Journalists AND Bloggers

Here, the opinion on the debate blogger vs. journalists of another blogger, Rebecca Blood (direct quotation is marked with page and line). She is much less critical than Scott Rosenberg. She is comparatively objective. One can sense her enthusiasm about weblogs and the possibilities they hold but she’s also respectful towards journalists and acknowledges their work as necessary and irreplaceable.

Blood, Rebecca: The Weblog Handbook. Practical Advice on creating and Maintaining Your Blog (2002)

To the book: http://www.eastgate.com/HypertextNow/archives/WeblogHandbook.html

The author:

Rebecca Blood has been creating websites since 1996 and is currently maintaining a weblog titled “Rebecca’s Pocket” which is focused on culture and society.

To Rebecca Blood’s blog: http://www.rebeccablood.net/

Chapter: Weblogs and Journalism

Blogging and Journalism are2 different things:

- “weblogs and journalism are simply two different things” (p.19, l. 13f.)

- none of them could provide the service of the other one

How weblogs differ from journalism:

They…

- … have no gatekeepers

- … are produced in the blogger’s spare time

- … don’t employ fact checkers

- … answer to no one but themselves

When weblogs come close to journalism:

- bloggers can occasionally be placed in midst of a noteworthy event (e.g. 2001

Seattle earthquake, attacks on the World Trade Center)à keep the

rest of the world informed by eyewitness accounts until news

organizations reach the place

- eyewitness accounts:

display only one perspective of an event, provide vivid personal, human,

emotional details

à valuable information is the basis for many good news reports, journalists put

eyewitness accounts in an order, combine individual stories to create a

fuller story

- blogs can transcend the bounds of news reporting:

The exchange of eyewitness accounts in difficult situations can trigger off

deep reflections on right and wrong and the very meaning of life

Blogs can control journalism:

- bloggers comb media, reading and evaluating hundreds of news accounts

every day

à in times of an informational flood, bloggers can lead the way, provide their

followers with the most pertinent information available

Bloggers can provide expert knowledge:

- bloggers come from all backgrounds

à can provide their readers with highly informed explanations and analysis of

news stories

- bloggers can give insight in their industry combined with pointers to news stories

à no journalism but public relations

- weblogs can help to find lesser known articles and obscure websites

Blogging = Journalism in one case

- opinion or analysis piece

- the intention is the same: to pronounce their opinion on something

- it doesn’t matter that bloggers may not professionally carry their ideas

completely through, they see their weblog as a platform for direct self-

expression

Rebecca Blood’s conclusion:

“Weblogs are not (…) a new kind of journalism. Rather, they supplement

traditional journalism by evaluating, augmenting, and above all filtering the

information churned by journalists (…) every day. (p.23, l.15-19)

Their strength is the position outside of mainstream media, honestly reacting to both current events and media coverage

à weblogs don’t need to try being called “journalism” in order to be taken

more seriously

“Both weblogs and journalism would do well to forget about defining weblogs

as journalism, or expanding the definition of journalism to include the new form. Rather, each should recognize the strengths of the other.” (…). (p.24,

l. 2-6)