Blogalism?

Journalism is a versatile career. If you want it to it can take you around the world. You meet a ridiculous amount of people who share things with you on the first meeting they might not have said to their own family. It’s peculiar, interesting and there are a thousand different sides to it.

Newspapers- There’s the dailies, weeklies, bi-weeklies and monthlies, all with their own purpose. Within each paper there are various sub sectors. In newspapers you can find the news section, the local section, arts/life/culture/entertainment, technology, health, sports, opinion/editorial and many others. Newspapers offer a succinct, readable display of facts that the journalist has researched and reported on.

Magazines- Magazines offer a bit more variety when it comes to niche markets, for instance there are entire publications devoted to one topic (ie. Fashion, photography, knitting, etc). There are also news magazines (Macleans, TIME, etc) that tackle some of the same issues a reader would see in the news section of a paper only more in depth in a single shot (whereas newspapers will develop the story over time—per issue)

Radio & Television- CBC, CNN, CFRA are all examples of news radio and news television outlets. These outlets differ in that they are more to “show” and not tell. Their formatting allows for interviews to be experienced by the public in real time and are incredibly useful for quick hits of major stories or in depth conversations with people of interest.

There’s also the newer phenomenon of blogging. When blogs first started cropping up on the internet they were mostly personal journals (for lack of a better term) where people could post their opinions on issues of the day for mass consumption. Lately though, there has been great debate about whether or not blogging is a form of journalism. As an aspiring journalist who has spent two years of my life and a hefty amount of cash to learn the principles of what being a journalist is I would like to say that no, blogging is not journalism, however after doing some research I’m not sure I can say that with a clear conscious.

The fact that this blog is being started because it is an assignment for my Journalism 4 class should be enough to settle this argument should it not? The assignment instructions were to create three entries that showcase the journalistic skills you’ve been honing: solid reporting/researching and clean writing tailored for the web. Once again we’re back, the usage of journalistic skills when applied to a blog must mean that a blog can be a form of journalism, right? I agree, there are blogs out there that are journalistic in that they are providing information to the masses that has been researched and reported. But what about the ones that aren’t? Can we call what Perez Hilton does journalism?

Jacob Friedman, a blogger for TheNextWeb.com  (TNW) wrote in his 2010 piece “Blogging vs. Journalism: The Ongoing Debate”, that the debate boils down to a larger question of identity for bloggers. Is there a sharp distinction between the two, or has time blurred the line? He came up with the conclusion (with the help of bloggers and journalists alike) that there are four schools of thought on the subject and they all deserve consideration.

The first opinion is that blogging is not journalism. This school of thought took into account what I stated above about the earlier blogs having a great deal of opinion woven throughout their content.

As journalists we are trained to be objective, to present the facts to the masses in such a way that the reader has what they need to form an opinion.  With bloggers so readily accessible are we losing the true response of the reader and instead getting a reaction inspired by the internet’s opinion? David S Broder, of the Washington Post said, “You can’t just sit on your computer all day. You need to get off your butt, go out there and interview sources, investigate the issue yourself and then write what you’ve learned.”

If we were to reduce it to math, Alex Wilhelm, Friedman’s colleague at TNW says it’s as simple as: Blogging= Journalism + Opinion.

My issue with this answer is that in my studies at J-school I’ve been encouraged to become an “expert” in the topics I’m reporting on. Research and networking is stressed more than almost anything else and I believe it’s important to really know what you’re writing about. Can this be accomplished if the writer does a Google search and forms an opinion on the links they clicked randomly? Researching this piece alone I talked to at least 5 classmates about their thoughts on the debate and pitched the idea to my professor before I started combing the web for other professional’s thoughts and findings. As a budding journalist am I not already somewhat of an expert on one side of the argument?

“If the blogger is sourcing his writing as a journalist would source a story it can be considered journalism,” says journalism student Madison Blue. “If it’s some guy sitting in his basement forming opinions based on other things he’s read on the internet it’s not,”

There is also the argument that blogging is a training ground for journalists. Once again I find myself torn. On one hand I’m currently blogging and training to be a journalist, on the other hand I’ve also been trained in narrative writing, editing (both copy and substantive), video, writing for radio, photography, long form writing, pitching/query letters, media law, layout: for newspapers, magazines and web and have been a part of the editorial staff for a student magazine published twice yearly. None of this makes me a bona fide journalist but it does allow me to practise and hone these skills. It allows me to learn from people who have made names for themselves in the business of journalism. Blogging alone does not a journalist make.

All in all I suppose this debate doesn’t really matter so long as I know that the writing I put out into the world is factual, well researched/reported and as objective as possible, regardless of where it’s published it is considered journalism. Or as Friedman puts it, “A blogger may inject a little bit more analysis into a post than a journalist does in a news article. But when a blogger tracks down sources, does investigative reporting and presents the facts clearly and fairly, that is journalism, plain and simple.”