公民新闻是一种与公共新闻完全不同的新闻活动。“公民新闻”中最为核心和重要的概念在于“公民”二字，只有厘清“公民”的内涵，才能对公民新闻有一个透彻清晰的认识，也才能真正理解公民新闻是在何种意义生促进了监督式民主的发展。本文认为，公民新闻与监督式民主的内涵不谋而合，它以公民为主体，体现了民主的本意。

Citizen journalism is completely different from public journalism. The core meaning of “citizen journalism” lies in "citizen". Only by clarifying the connotation of the concept "citizen", can people thoroughly understand citizen journalism, and truly understand in what sense citizen journalism has promoted the development of monitory democracy. This article thinks that citizen journalism happens to have the same connotation as monitory democracy, since it is based on citizen-centered, and embodies the democratic intention.