In the Age of Vlogging for All, Journalist Visa No Longer Makes Sense

The government signaled displeasure with the reporting by revoking the journalistic privilege of several correspondents...goes the typical back-and-forth between authoritarian regimes and critical (often Western) media outlets. Those revocations are based on a perhaps deliberately bureaucratic method in controlling access: the existence of the journalism visa in most jurisdictions. Foreigners working for major news brands are expected to self-identify as seeking to publish information. This is so that they do not bring their employers problems, while enabling local authorities to better track their whereabouts.

But the world has long since moved on from the days when traditional media outlets dictated what information people received and what they believed about the world around them. Self-publishing platforms emerged, first in the form of written blogs like this one and then visual social media platforms that turned casual vloggers into news sources. Their firsthand information can often buttress or debunk narratives peddled by traditional media or local authorities. Yet these individuals are not subject to journalist visas because many do what they do ostentatiously for recreational purposes. 

Indeed, debunking and buttressing can often be done inadvertently. Malta is a case in point. Mainstream media and politicians never tire of pushing the message that the country's current economic boom hinges upon an entirely unsustainable upward trend in population growth and the accompanying increase in residences and cars, jamming roads and erasing its traditional idyllic lifestyle. Yet, just snapping a few pictures during hikes away from towns shows how devoid of people and manmade structures some parts of the country are.

If anything, some parts of the country have seen a shrinkage. Among its rugged, windblown coastline are many abandoned structures, some housing military personnel from World War II, others home to families tending to long-disappeared farms and ranches. Few tourists trek so far from population centers to gawk at these crumbling stone structures, meaning that many are actually in good enough condition to be restored for new inhabitants. Yet, no one is pushing for policies to populate what used to be, in the name of preserving at least some of these "traditional" parts of Malta against the population influx.

A few more journalists can subtly report that Malta's overcrowding may be due to bad planning that leads to unnecessarily high density in some parts and complete neglect in others. And they certainly do not need to do serious journalism requiring journalistic permission to make the message stick. All they need to do is take a few photos and post them to their personal social media accounts, casually captioning their hikes as personal activities being done outside their normally hectic schedule of interviews and writing.

And when enough journalists document their everyday lives where they are based, then the journalist visas will lose meaning. The line between a hired writer and a "citizen journalist" with a camera and a YouTube channel will blur as traditional media outlets further lose their monopoly on providing credible information to the masses. The masses, spoilt for even more choices on where to gather their information, will hopefully be forced to exit their echo chambers by coming across facts on the ground that differ from their perceptions and changing their minds gradually.

The authorities can cancel all the journalist visas and privileges they want. But particularly in a tourism-dependent economy like Malta, they have no choice but to let more people in as tourists and refrain from heavy-handed treatment of those publishing dissenting opinions about the country, to not scare off future arrivals. With freedom to travel, see, and record all the sights, even remote, less-visited ones, foreign tourists can become the guardians of freedom of speech, posting critical views with little repercussion.

Even the traditional media will benefit from the democratization of journalism. After all, why spend all the money sending journalists across the world and the hassle of applying for journalist visas, when all the reporting can be outsourced to those already on the ground, experiencing everyday life and motivated to document every aspect for all to see? By reaching out to citizen journalists and piecing together the right firsthand documentations, professional-level write-ups and news coverage can be created on the cheap.