Journalist or Blogger?
Newspapers are in trouble, so report the newspapers. So does network television, also facing new challenges from both cable television and the internet. This week, NPR’s On the Media posed the question on how to save newspapers. They played excerpts from a recent Senate commerce committee hearing on the future of journalism. After pointing fingers at one another, with Google News and the Huffington Post on one side and greedy media conglomerations on the other, the consensus seemed to be that the newspapers in particular and “old media” in general needs special help to survive.
Of course, there is an inherent conflict of interest in the media debating the virtues of the media. Journalism is a profession and a business, with its own history, customs and practices. Like all businesses, it has little interest in seeing reform or change come to its time-honored traditions. Unfortunately for the Fourth Estate, the barbarians of new media are at the gate and reform is coming to the industry, whether or not it is welcome.
The media like to use “bloggers” as a straw man to attack when discussing the woes of the current state of journalism. These ambiguous, amorphous figures sit behind laptops and anonymity, publishing the first rumor and hearsay to reach their inbox. Bloggers, according to the media, have no respect for journalistic practices and do not know how to write a story. One key question seems to go unanswered in this discussion — what is the difference between a journalist and a blogger?
Separating Mice from Men
An attempt to categorize the two categories may be a good start. For example, a journalist will attend local zoning board and city council meetings. By contrast, a blogger will merely create a link to funny pictures of cats or other website, with or without attribution. Within these two extremes lies a universe of possibility and permutation.
So what about training? There are schools for journalism, institutions where aspiring young minds go to learn the craft; however, unlike other professions such as law and medicine, there is no certification process, no special license to be a journalist in the United States. Freedoms of speech and press are deeply rooted in the First Amendment, and the ability of anyone to express their thoughts and report on their government are protected.
But is journalism merely learning a craft? When advocating for the preservation or canonization of the press, journalists exalt such figures as Hurst, Pulitzer, Murrow and their ilk. However, these exceptional men are just that: exceptions. Remember Philip Glass? He was probably an exception, too, but he was certainly not unique.
Perhaps the ultimate key to journalism is the degree of the source. Original sources, such as interviews with individuals and organizations, create the story. However, the press does not rely solely on interviews to do their reporting. Research is an important factor, and the combing of documents and records is an essential element of good journalism. Bloggers are just as equipped to perform this task as any other journalist. While I am personally not aware of many bloggers who attend zoning board meetings or doing some of the other basic beat walking a newspaper journalist might do, I am sure that it does happen from time to time.
Worthy of the Profession
What qualifies as journalistic writing? For many journalists, the profession involves a degree of public service: disseminating information to the public that is important for their civic livelihood. When journalists speak of the value of journalism, investigative journalism is quick to their tongues.
When does journalism cross into something less noble? What public interest is served by a vanity piece in the New York Times about the supplanting of models by actresses in fashion magazines? What about the automotive press, or the technology press, who often produce articles that are more like advertisements that objective reports? Should these qualify as journalism?
Another, and overly simplistic, means of differentiation would be to sort the journalists from the bloggers by publication medium. Much like the Gutenberg press before, the internet has revolutionized the publication and dissemination of information. Because of the ease and simplicity of creating a new website, the Old media, such as newspapers, seem to engender a special place in the hearts of journalists; certainly, print has its virtues, such as archival. Of course, debating the virtues of the physical media misses the point. Content is the concern and scope of this article.
The New Media
A chief complaint about blogs, as articulated by David Simon at the recent Senate hearing, is that blogs “[add nothing more than commentary and froth].” Unfortunately for Mr. Simon, current media are no different. While every major news outlet develops its own feature stories, there is very little difference in the top stories between competing news outlets, especially outlets within the same market (e.g., competing network stations in a given city). Often an entertaining story will circulate from outlet to outlet, all within a single news day. The likelihood of this occurring with such frequency is slim. Rather, the old media jump on these stories in the same way a story will circulate around the internet, the major difference being, of course, speed of repetition.
To take the position that the current state of journalism is perfectly acceptable but that blogs cannot be included in that number is the ultimate hypocrisy. The publication media differs, and bloggers are usually also their own editor and publisher, but the fact remains that the differences between their practices are not that great. Certainly, anyone can create a website and publish lies and falsities, but the newsprint has suffered this for centuries.
The media and journalism serve a wide range of interests and functions. There certainly is validity to serving these different markets, no matter the degree of journalism. The distinction between blogger and journalist is quite often artificial and unnecessary. To collectively refer to journalists in one camp and bloggers in another is to use too broad a brush and to disparage everyone.
I do not pretend that my own website is a news outlet, but it does not have to be. Sometimes, I do merely report that someone else has reported a story, and sometimes I will add a small amount of commentary or “froth” to my posting. Other times, however, I’d like to think I create well-written, researched pieces that could just as easily be found in a news outlet. My site differs from a news outlet in that I post personal updates here. This is a practice I am considering changing, though, and may move to separate my personal writings from my “professional” in the near future.
