Journalists vs Bloggers

Chris Pirillo Will There Ever be a Twitter Killer? How Do You Stay Motivated to Lose Weight? Why are Most Digital Photos Boring? Is it Time for a New Countdown Clock?Journalists vs Bloggers

Interesting – I notice that often I will write about a breaking story – and then it will ‘breaking news” on TV 2 days later LOL
I watched the recent New Zealand elections while living in Australia 98% of the vote was counted and the results were all but final – and the local news was crossing “live” and saying that 60% were counted – that was at least 1 hour out of date!
The internet is great – it keeps the good journalist honest and will hopefully get rid of the rest

Yeah, he’s got a bright future. He’s going to “right” articles? Not only is his spelling an issue, he’s going to get hit with the reality bat when being objective isn’t good for job security in main stream media.

This guy’s a journalism student? Has he heard of a rough draft and rewrites? How about a dictionary? He should reread his articles before hitting send. This just shows the dismal state of journalism–more to the point–education!

I agree with the statements made by both parties. However, is it just me, or did Chris H. incorrectly use the word “right” (when it should have been “write”) in his message? Future journalist, eh? Really?

I was lucky enough to see a panel once, consisting of Robert Cox (President of the Media Bloggers Association) with a couple prominent attorneys in the world of media content where this was the key topic of discussion.

They all seemed to agree that it honestly depended on the blogger. It depends on the content. There are some bloggers who could be considered journalists and some people who just write a bunch of nonsense.

I think that the fact that it’s even a discussion says something about how they ARE in fact journalists. Because there are people out there who do writing for big time publications who really have no business in the world of publishing. The fact that we’re nitpicking and saying that some are and some aren’t makes it so that as a whole, they truly are journalists and that blogging truly is journalism.

The one difference that I look for in online blogging as apposed to writing for something like the New York Times is not just a reporting of news and events, but something on a more personal note.

When I read someone’s blog, I don’t just want to hear someone report the facts and events exactly as they happened. I also want to hear what that person THINKS about what they’re writing about. I expect to hear a personal opinion voiced. I don’t expect that with the news and I honestly don’t think it belongs there.

Enter the blog. We say what we want. We voice our views and opinions.

And one thing that we are definitely accountable for is defamation of character in the eyes of the public. If you have some piece of dirt you’ve dug up on a public figure and you’re going to blog about it, you better be damn sure of your information or you could be held liable for your actions. Those are the kinds of actions that get the most attention from lawsuits, especially in California where people blog a lot about celebrities.

The good thing about the Internet is that the statute of limitations has usually set in by the time anybody finds out you did say something bad about them. lol It’s not so easy to hide when it’s found on the front page of the L.A. Times.

I believe in theory he has a point when he talks about journalists being objective and bloggers being subjective. But I believe this is a theory. I do not believe that all journalists are objective. In fact, I believe most aren’t.

I object to his point that “Journalists doesn’t just want to right a story because we get paid we write”. I believe it is more the other way around. Very few bloggers make any real money writing. They do it because they enjoy it. Paid journalists write stories because either the publication they work for told them to write it or because they believe it is interesting enough to sell to a publication.

So I agree with you Chris, the lines will continue to blur. I can say for my part that I prefer to get my news from people who will tell you up front that they are biased vs the media who typically lie and say they are unbiased. Just my 2 cents.

He might want to brush up on his grammar and spelling if he aspires to be a ‘journalist’.

Bloggers are a useful and vital aspect of getting an alternative view outside of the news media. This type of elitist tone of journalism he is putting forth is not a productive type of message if we are to be working towards facilitating a bi-partisan communable agreement. Nonetheless I respect his opinion and hope he is successful at what he has chosen to pursue. Stay grounded and keep it real.

Thanks for the post. I thought you brought up a couple decent points, especially about accountability. I found it ironic, however, while you were editorializing about essentially journalists being held to an expected higher standard, w/ respect to holding each other professionally responsible, you consistently misspelled ‘write’ through out your post. This annoyance took away from the impact I thought your post could have really made.

I don’t want to be an asshole and avoid the subject at hand, but how can someone be a journalism student and write so poorly?

Maybe I shouldn’t assume that the author speaks English natively?

No strong views directly on the topic (except I think it’s probably a bit spurious) but I really think a journalist (even if he’s “only” a final year student) should be able to write grammatically.

15 marks. Discuss. :-)

http://geeks.pirillo.com/group/grammargeeks/forum/topics/should-journalists-be-able-to

Tell me this is a joke and not serious!

Journalists aren’t objective for starters, but it would appear that our next generation of journalists may be illeterate as well:

“Bloggers right about what they want to right about, which might be similar however journalists right not only what people want to hear but what they should hear.”

Um…epic fail: write not right. The idea that journos write about what people “should hear”…WTF? name me one paper left on the planet who subscribes to that. Newspapers write to sell copy, TV stations broadcast to sell ads, radio likewise. If anything it’s bloggers who provide the more honest, less corrupted voice, after all, you can write a blog for free and never seek to make money from it. With the exception of the public media (UK + Australia) every other mainstream media outlet in the western world comes back to the mighty dollar…and even the public broadcasters are often conflicted

I am very devoted these days to explaining that “blog is a publishing format, not a type of website.” Journalists can and do publish in blog format. Diarists can and do publish in blog format. If we can keep clear on this point – maybe even eliminate the word “blogger,” it’s like describing a dead-tree publisher by the type of paper she/he uses (douglasfirrer!) – we may be able to get past this “are bloggers journalists” question, FINALLY. (We, by the way, are journalists who publish news and information in blog format.)

Dude, learn to spell and write before you can even think about becoming a Journalist. A hint: One learns to write well by reading good literature. Also, read the work of Journalists you admire, if you know of any.

To Chris Hughes, if you are going to go into journalism, you had better learn how to spell and use the right word when required. Your second paragraph had ‘right’ in place of ‘write’ in five places. This kind of error does not help a journalist.

I agree that bias appears in journalists’ writings, but they should strive to present a truthful account of what they are writing about. They definitely should never write something that didn’t occur as if it did, or their idea of what should have happened instead of what did happen. A typical example is “Bush lied” used by the American media to suggest that is how we got into Iraq. This is WRONG. Bush reported to congress what knowledge he (and they) had about the possibility of attacks sponsored by Iraq against the US. He and most of the world was misinformed and attacked Iraq based on that misinformation. It was not a lie, because he (and most others) believed it to be true.

This is the great problem with todays journalists. You must strive to report what you are reporting on in a true and non-embellished way. You must try to keep your bias out of your reporting. This is the only way you will have to become a great journalist.

Matt Newell

Very few Journalists are objective!

Funny thing about Journalism is that you can’t study it as a subject. You can certainly learn and study the skills involved, but you should also expect your first few years of being a journalist to be unremittingly boring. You’ll get briefs from your editor to go out and write stories about taxes, concrete mixers, mud, screwdriver factories and even asbestos removal consultants.

He’ll pick at your spelling – “Bloggers WRITE about what they want to WRITE about, which might be similar however journalists WRITE not only what people want to hear but what they should hear.”

He’ll pick at your grammar (which will hurt) and boil your words down – “Bloggers WRITE freely, which might be similar. However journalists WRITE what wants to be heard and what needs to be heard.”

It’s changing to be sure. Nowadays Bloggers and journalists can find the same bits of information from an original source. The Blogger has more time on his hands though, and he doesn’t have to check the source unless he wants to. The Journalist cannot afford to be lazy.

Remember to check the subject list before you go for a college or university course. If there’s anything there that looks a bit iffy, find another course. Quantum Particle Physics might sound a bit rough, but if you check the subjects involved it really isn’t too bad.

Most bloggers do not have a journalism degree. Otherwise
both are essentially the same because they do political
commentary.

this is a real oxymoron , You have bloggers that suffer from social retardation, and you have journalists that don’t know what a blog it. Everyone needs to take a step back and take a look at ‘new media’ as a whole. Just because you blog does not make your journalists, nor does it make you a blogger if you are a journalists and you post on a blog.
One of the reasons I do not blog is that people do not check their sources! Just because you saw it on a blog does not make it fact.