Blogging and Journalism

The blogging phenomenon has brought the role of the reporter and the profession of journalism under scrutiny.

In the traditional media model, journalists play a middleman role, working for news organisations, but also serving the public. They are seen as the voice of the people, fulfilling the public’s right to know. However, now that the public is not entirely voiceless, renewed attention has been directed toward the profession, its relevance and value, as it redefines itself in the age of the Internet.

It is pertinent to identify here that the vast majority of blogs are not oriented toward purposeful discussions on social issues; rather they have a narrow focus and are something akin to a personal website (Andrews, 2003: 63). This discussion refers to those that venture into journalistic territory, commenting on social issues and events.

A decline in print media readership has coincided with advances in technology such as blogging software. In an article in The Age published in November 2005, Leonie Wood wrote, ‘It's the time for lay-offs in the newspaper industry, a time when publishers around the world are thinning the ranks of journalists, newspaper administration and support staff to counter sluggish revenues.’http://www.sauer-thompson.com/archives/opinion/2005/11/print_media_dec.php.

This downward trend can be attributed to several factors. Consumers, it appears, are losing interest in the tired, old print media formats (Lovink 87: Reader). Journalists are required to adhere to prescribed formats for articles. The industry norm to maintain an objective third party standpoint, delivering news in a dry, factual pyramid style, has prevailed in the mass marketing model because it appeals to the broadest audience (Grabowicz, 2003: 75). The formulaic format has become predictable. Readers are not stimulated by more of the same, as indicated by the trend of them looking elsewhere.

Another aspect of this decline is that audiences no longer have the patience to read a newspaper from front to back. Consumers in the information age are constantly bombarded with media messages, each vying for their attention. To keep from becoming saturated with unnecessary information, individuals have become more selective with which messages they pay attention to and which ones they block out.

In an attempt to retain readers, many newspapers have swung away from in-depth coverage of current issues to “infotainment” – catchy headlines and emotive tid-bits. This commodification of the news has also impacted on audiences’ faith in news publications. The ideal that ‘Journalists should be free of any other obligation other than the public’s right to know’ (Code of Ethics, 1996) has been corroded by the understanding that news institutions are privately owned and run with the primary incentive to sell newspapers, an issue covered in-depth in the journal article ‘Who’s responsible for Journalism?’ (link). It is in this milieu that the relationship between blogging and journalism becomes interesting.

The practice of blogging challenges the sole gatekeeper role that the news institutions have previously held. There have been instances where blogging networks have persisted that certain events overlooked by traditional media are in fact newsworthy. A well-known case is the demise of American Republican Senate majority leader Trent Lott. Senator Lott made a racial slur indicating the alarming stance for segregation. Despite being there to hear him say it, mainstream media did not pick up on it, not until they got wind of it several days later from outraged bloggers who were still up in arms at the significance of his remarks (Regan, 2003: 68-9). This example highlights how bloggers can contribute to the truth finding process.

The informal and symbiotic nature of blogs is another way in which bloggers move beyond the confines maintained by mainstream media. Subjective discussions on current events are free to move beyond the mere facts provided by the media to question the underlying reasons and further social implications of these events (Andrews, 2003: 64). Professional blogger Sheila Lennon writes of this in her article ‘Blogging Journalists Invite Outsider’s Reporting In’, where she gives The Station Fire Weblog

as an example. In the months following a tragic nightclub fire in Rhode Island, Lennon’s blog became a hub of incoming and outgoing information providing insight and support to members of the community. The onslaught of information contributed by the community added a depth to the coverage that traditional media formats could not achieve.