The floods in London proved everyone is a reporter. They just don’t know it yet

Journalism is about informing the public, writes Tom Richell. With everyone now having immediate access to share information, there really isn’t anyone in the developed world who cannot do that

Heavy rain in London on Sunday caused flash floods in many parts of the capital (PA)

Years ago, as a journalism student, I argued in an essay that “everyone is a journalist”.

My theory was – working with a definition that journalism is about informing the public – there really isn’t anyone in the developed world who cannot do that.

It was 2013, so the rise of the smartphone and social media had happened a few years earlier, and near enough everyone I knew had immediate access to share and disseminate information at a moment’s notice.

The distinction, I said, should be made between whether someone was a professional journalist or not. Whether they were a “trusted source” or not. My lecturer told me she disagreed with almost everything I’d written, and then gave me a first for my essay.

It’s interesting then that, as a “professional” now, I often lean on these “non-professional” journalists.

As London increasingly began to resemble the pool at the Tokyo Olympics on Sunday afternoon, with flood waters rising from the southwest to the northeast of the city, a friend posted footage of the chaos on Instagram.

“Is that the Common?” I said, knowing full well it was.

“Yup”, she replied. She knew what was coming next.

“Got any more footage? *sideways eyes emoji*” – I felt the emoji added to the non-demanding vibe I was trying to put across.

Ten minutes later, she had been for another trip around Clapham Common in the pouring rain and shot a video for me, which I had up on The Independent’s website within half an hour.

For us “professional” journalists, these kinds of interactions are not uncommon.

Early in my Independent career I was trying to make contact with someone for a story. I had his name, but exhaustive searches on social media and elsewhere brought up nothing I could use to get in touch, until I eventually found his home address.

As luck would have it, he lived just a five-minute walk away from my sister’s flat in Gloucestershire – so I sent her round to drop a handwritten note through his door with my contact details.

Handy, these “non-professional” journalists.

The university essay was written by a cocky, know-it-all student who really still had so much to learn. But on this occasion, I think he was on to something.

Everyone has the opportunity now to have a voice, to share, to inform – and that’s something us “professionals” keep on proving every day.

Yours,

Tom Richell

Head of multimedia

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