Is Blogging a Form of Journalism?

Journalism can be defined as a "timely reporting of events at the local, provincial, national and international levels" (The University of Western Ontario, 2008). This is done through "writing that tells people about things that really happened, but that they might not have known about already" (Niles). Traditionally, journalists work for newspaper and televisions, however, nowadays; new forms of journalism are emerging, as a result of technological advancements.

Technology has inflicted the lives of the people in more ways than one can ever imagine. The widespread innovation has intervened with several aspects of the society and traditional thoughts and lifestyles were displaced as expected. On one thought, modernization has actually brought a great deal of convenience - no questions about that. Further, perhaps, one of the greatest benefits of technology is the trouble-free means of acquiring information, mostly through the Internet. However, science progress rapidly, people can now not just only obtain but also put in information on the net as in the case of blogs. The latter was coined in 1999 from the words, "Web" and "logs", hence the term, blogs. The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines it as "diary; a personal chronological log of thoughts published on a Web page" (qtd. in Catalino 22). It has become widespread and is now evolving as a fad. As a matter of fact, "today, the search site technorati.com tracks 23.5 million of them" (Stepp 62). In connection, it is said that a blog is actually a form of journalism. However, there are qualms on whether it really satisfies the requisites of the latter or not. In response to this, the present paper will explore on the different facets of blogging in relation to journalism and its impacts on the society as a whole.

Blog as Journalism

When it comes to the aspect as to what drives people to blog, it is pointed out that it actually appears ancient. "Cave-wall decorations, Colonial-era pamphlets and 19th-century journals all bespeak the human hunger for self-expression" (Stepp 62). Obviously, it takes a form of somehow a conversational journalism in a way that one "can publish what [he or she] write[s] immediately and without editorial supervision" (Stepp 62).

Further, due to the overlapping characteristics of blogging and journalism, Ribstein (185) developed a new framework by "viewing blogs as the vanguard of what might be called as 'amateur journalism'". Moreover, is said that blogs are tools that allow "a broad, non-technical audience to publish news, information, and opinions widely" (Catalino 22). Note that this sort of a definition of a blog hugely resembles the description of journalism. As a matter of fact, "the content (of blogs) can range from dyed-in-the-wool journalism to stream-of-consciousness revelations" (Catalino 22). Besides, blogging, together with discussion boards and wikis are now considered as journalism published online (Niles)

In addition to this, blogging is presently being accepted as a form of journalism since any individuals can easily post information on the web cheaply. Aside from this, blogs "also can get the attention of significant numbers of readers" (Ribstein 185). Moreover, blogs are apparently accepted by audiences as an alternative to mainstream media amidst the concerns that it may contain unreliable information.

The reason for this is that, there is now a growing public dissatisfaction with the traditional media, in addition to "a general loss of faith in the country's established political institutions" (qtd. in Stepp 62). Hence, the logic is the traditional media cannot be trusted anyway so why not resort to the new emerging kind of media? Besides, it is most likely that only those blogs with credible information will gain a significant amount of readers, thus, the public has nothing to lose in trusting this new form of journalism.

Moving on, in justifying blogging as form of journalism, it is also important to note what makes a journalist. It is said that the most significant characteristic that journalists should possess is curiosity. Aside from this, they should have love for reading and the desire to know as much as they can about the world (Niles). What is more, Niles states that usually journalists start by keeping a diary. With this, since blogging as defined earlier is a sort of an online diary, therefore, it can be loosely considered as journalism at its initial stage. But of course, its definition and use now change as time passes by.

Impacts of Blogging

Blogs are seen as important and effective educational tools especially in teaching literature. As a matter of fact, in Hunterdon Central Regional High School, blogs are used to create dialogs over a book (Richardson 40). It is said that blogs are gaining popularity and interests in the field of education since it can be used as an online forum for classroom discussion, and to develop students' critical thinking, writing, and reading comprehension skills" (Richardson 40). Moreover, because of blogs, students feel a "a sense of audience" thus, motivating them to read, to participate in class discussions, to engage in debates, etc. Furthermore, blogs also serve as a means of communication and self-expression. Aside from this, it can also help promote businesses. These are just few of the many benefits that one can derive from blogging. Surely, there is more, some of which may not even be discovered yet.

However, in as much as blogs are beneficial, they also draw concerns from critics. Firstly, professional journalists believe that blogs can post a threat on responsible reporting. The president of CNN said that "bloggers have no checks and balances" (qtd. in Ribstein 185). This results to low-quality of information. It arguably follows that bloggers should be regulated to ensure accuracy and fairness, perhaps even more heavily than conventional journalists (Ribstein 185).

Conclusion

Indeed, the technology has been very advantageous in a great deal of things including sharing and acquiring of information. For this matter, it can be deduced that blogs has really served beneficial purposes especially in the aspects of education and even in journalism. In regards to the latter, from the definitions of blogs and journalism presented earlier, it can be said that indeed blogs can be considered as a form of journalism. In order to clear qualms and arguments toward this, it is best to view blogs in the framework presented by Ribstein (40). This is because, as in any other fields of concerns, people and educators, for this matter, should also align their concept with the present-day trend, which includes the technological innovations through Internet. Besides, blogs are versatile technology tools, in addition to being fast, easy and affordable (Richardson 40). Therefore, it definitely provides an opportunity or a venue for all individuals, even those, who are not professional writers, to express their thoughts and also share information to the community. Nevertheless, a hint of caution should also be taken especially in getting information in blogs. The technology is quite new and therefore input of information is not yet regulated. Thus, people cannot just trust all the data found in blogs since there are no restrictions in posting. In the longer run, [...] [the] potential effects [of blogging] on major media are both exhilarating and scary (Stepp 62). But then again, technology will surely intervene to sort out this problem in due time.

Works Cited

Catalino, Frank. "Why Blog? Will Your Web Log Add to the World of Knowledge? in 12 Days of Blogs, Our Expert Demonstrates the Myriad Benefits This New Form of Communication Holds for Teachers Students, and Parents Alike". T H E Journal 33.5 (2005):22.

"Is journalism for you?". University of Western Ontario. 08 May 2008 .

Niles, Robert (2007). "What is journalism?". McKinley Elementary. March 2007. 08 May 2008 .

Ribstein, Larry. "From Bricks to Pajamas: The Law and Economics of Amateur Journalism". William and Mary Law Review 48.1 (2006): 185.

Richardson, Will. "New Jersey High School Learns the ABCs of Blogging: Weblogs Can Create Online Forums for Classroom Discussion, and Build Student Skills". T H E Journal, 32.11 (2005): 40.

Stepp, Carl. "The Blog Revolution". American Journalism Review 28.1 (2006): 62.