Accuracy and citizen journalism

"Citizen journalism" is generally viewed as news that is gathered and disseminated by those outside traditional or mainstream news organizations. Some laud it as the future of journalism
[change to original: I shouldn't have linked to Rosen post on these words, as he doesn't call it "future of journalism."]
a way to ensure a watchdog function as mainstream news budgets slide and former business models dissolve.
But it's not without controversy. Check out this case when a citizen journalism report got it completely wrong and affected the stock of a major corporation. It's not just a question for journalism. The SEC even got involved on this one.
So what's your response? Is there a place for "non-professionals" to be doing reporting? What are the dangers? How do we ensure values like accuracy and fairness when people are operating outside of the realms where professional norms are learned and reinforced?