Thursday, November 30, 2006
Fetch my Blog, Spot!
For the first time in nearly a century, professional journalists face a formidable challenge to their dominance in the news industry: the Blogosphere. On any event, topic, or study, blogs can offer just as much valuable, insightful information as the best newspapers. Given the options, how should the average news consumer proceed?
My suggestion would be to choose depending on the type of story being covered. What are the advantages of professional journalism? One is the training to observe an event without becoming emotionally engaged. Zayed, an Iraqi blogger from the heart of Baghdad, reports on the daily condition of Iraqis in his blog Healing Iraq. He is an incredible eye witness to the Gulf War experience. Yet, does he have the emotional fortitude to exclude himself from the scene and report objectively? More likely, the experienced journalist can handle the task better than an embedded participant.
There are other types of stories, however, that the blogger can offer much more thorough coverage. Dan Gilmore, writer for The San Jose Mercury News, admits often that his readers have a much better grasp of the high-tech field than he does. He can relate what Steve Jobs actually said at the conference and still miss the important implications because he lacks the requisite techy background. Most journalists are trained in Grad school to be generalists, not specialists. A tech blog, therefore, might be a better source of useful information than a general article in a major newspaper.
Whereas professional journalists offer skills, bloggers can offer area-specific expertise. For coverage of an event, such as a catastrophic hurricane, I would first consult established media. For a highly specific topic or a hyper-local concern, blogs are my pick.
For the first time in nearly a century, professional journalists face a formidable challenge to their dominance in the news industry: the Blogosphere. On any event, topic, or study, blogs can offer just as much valuable, insightful information as the best newspapers. Given the options, how should the average news consumer proceed?
My suggestion would be to choose depending on the type of story being covered. What are the advantages of professional journalism? One is the training to observe an event without becoming emotionally engaged. Zayed, an Iraqi blogger from the heart of Baghdad, reports on the daily condition of Iraqis in his blog Healing Iraq. He is an incredible eye witness to the Gulf War experience. Yet, does he have the emotional fortitude to exclude himself from the scene and report objectively? More likely, the experienced journalist can handle the task better than an embedded participant.
There are other types of stories, however, that the blogger can offer much more thorough coverage. Dan Gilmore, writer for The San Jose Mercury News, admits often that his readers have a much better grasp of the high-tech field than he does. He can relate what Steve Jobs actually said at the conference and still miss the important implications because he lacks the requisite techy background. Most journalists are trained in Grad school to be generalists, not specialists. A tech blog, therefore, might be a better source of useful information than a general article in a major newspaper.
Whereas professional journalists offer skills, bloggers can offer area-specific expertise. For coverage of an event, such as a catastrophic hurricane, I would first consult established media. For a highly specific topic or a hyper-local concern, blogs are my pick.
# posted by Jonathan Noble @ 6:29 PM 
