Dec 17
It Takes a Little More Than Having a Blog
Over at his blog, I’m Not Drunk Enough for This, J.J. says the perception of bloggers being “journalists” bothers him:
“What most people think of when they hear the term journalism in any context is modern professional news journalism, which is usually understood to adhere to specific standards. But bloggers don’t have to adhere to any standards in the pursuit or recounting of What, When, Where, How, and Why. Objectivity, fact-checking, proper research and sourcing - none of these are required for blogging.”
That’s pretty much my objection to the perception as well. I left him a comment in which I referred to a comment I read on someone else’s blog a while back, which said that bloggers can be journalists of a sort, but only when they practice journalism. I also added:
“I think most people expect that the traditional media is supposed to be unbiased, and blogs to reflect their writer’s biases. But there are cases in which both fail to live up to those expectations.”
And this:
“Having a blog doesn’t make anyone a journalist any more than having a medicine cabinet makes someone a pharmacist.”
I find it ironic that there are people who seem to hate everything that the media stands for, who laugh at everything they believe journalism and journalists are all about. Yet they then start a blog and want to call themselves “journalists.”
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