This is essentially a blog about blogging.
More specifically, about whether bloggers are producing content worthy of being called journalism.
Let me explain.
I am a senior graduating in May from the University of Oklahoma with a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism. My capstone class, Mass Communications Law, requires that each student do a project in line with a specific major. Easy enough.
My topic is:
“Develop a report on the ongoing debate over “Who is a journalist?” today, focusing on whether what bloggers are doing qualifies as journalism and how the mainstream news industry is being influenced by the broader trend” (From Robert Kerr’s class handouts).
Seems simple at first glance. Blog = news, blogger= journalist, yes or no? But it is more complicated than that.
For instance, what about blogs that mainstream media produce themselves? Those are written by more traditional journalists, yet it is a sphere without as much cut and dried “journalism.” My initial thoughts are the public doesn’t trust it as much because the medium is such a fluid one and open to interpretation. The reporters can, and often do, treat blogs as more opinion-based, edging away from the Just-the-facts-Ma’am approach.
Then there are those bloggers who probably read 20 news stories in any medium over the course of 6 months, yet they are producing content about what they know, and people read it to get information. These blogs also provide the public with newsworthy information without the writer ever learning the journalism ropes.
I decided the medium under discussion would be an interesting way to present my findings as I interview and investigate this topic, hence this blog.
Any comments are, of course, more than appreciated.
We’ll see how this goes.
