DEBATE IS OVER?!

I just had a moment of enlightenment:

The debate “Journalism vs. Bloggers” is over. At least it seems to be…

During the last days, I read a lot about the relation between journalism and blogging, collected arguments from both sides, always wondering who was right.

I was really into this debate, eager to find new points of view because I hadn’t known much about the conflict and finally wanted to inform myself in order to shape my own opinion, my own position towards blogging as a future journalist.

Having shared arguments from different bloggers as well as journalists in my last 3 posts, I found several statements today that astonished me. I had a closer look and noticed that they were dated much later than all the others I dealt with earlier.

So this seems to be the…

Current situation

Coexistence of bloggers and journalists

“Perhaps this [2007] will be the year that we can end forever the silliest and most self-destructive debate in our industry, that of "mainstream" vs. "citizen" journalism.”

(hopes Robert Niles in “The silliest, and most destructive, debate in journalism”, see: http://www.ojr.org/ojr/stories/070103niles/)

Mainstream journalists have started blogging – larger blogs hire reporters and do traditional journalism.

(States Mark Glaser in “Distinction Between Bloggers, Journalists Blurring More Than Ever” (2008), see: http://www.pbs.org/mediashift/2008/02/distinction-between-bloggers-journalists-blurring-more-than-ever059.html)

"I think the argument about bloggers vs. journalists has been over for years," "We've all co-existed just fine for a while now, and the truth is, the distinction is less relevant every day. There are thousands of journalists who now blog, and there are lots of bloggers who are trained journalists."

(Said Jim Brady, executive editor of Washingtonpost.com according to Mark Glaser, see link above)

“… some organizations have begun to legitimize Web logs as a valid grassroots form of journalism. (…) They have broken major news stories. Several prominent bloggers have become media pundits. And mainstream media outfits (…) are developing blogs to complement their traditional outlets.”

(detects Jessi Hempel in “Are Bloggers Journalists?“, see: http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/mar2005/tc2005037_7877_tc024.htm)


Bloggers are gaining rights and respect

(from “Blogs: All the noise that fits” by Michael Skube, see: http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-op-skube19aug19,0,3547019.story)

- 2004: Bloggers were awarded press credentials to the Democratic National Convention.

And: Bloggers for the first time received press passes to cover the conventions during the Presidential elections. (According to Jessi Hempel)

- 2006: A Californian Court ruled that bloggers were protected under the state's reporter shield law.

- 2007: At a convention sponsored by Daily Kos in Chicago, “a procession of Democratic presidential hopefuls offered full salutes, knowing that bloggers are busy little bees in organizing political support and fundraising.”


Mainstream Journalism and “citizen journalism” make a good team

(from Robert Niles in “The silliest, and most destructive, debate in journalism”, see: http://www.ojr.org/ojr/stories/070103niles/)

"Citizen journalism" provides professional reporters the chance to collect many more data points than they can on their own. And “mainstream media” provide readers an established, popular distribution channel for the information we have and can collect. Not to mention a century of wisdom on sourcing, avoiding libel and narrative storytelling technique.”