Can bloggers be considered journalists?
Blogging has evolved a huge amount since the term was coined and the first writers of Web logs and online journals popped up on the Internet. But has it evolved so much that bloggers can now be considered, and call themselves, journalists?
TechCrunch reports on a new survey which suggests that 52 percent of bloggers now consider themselves journalists. That’s an increase from around 33 percent who felt that way a year ago. However, only 20 percent of bloggers earn the bulk of their income from Blogging. But again, that’s up on last year, when just 4 percent could answer that question in the affirmative.
Is the line between blogging and journalism now so fuzzy that the 52 percent of bloggers who consider themselves journalists are right to do so? Or is there still a very definite divide between the two that cannot and never will be removed?
I am a blogger. It’s as simple as that. It’s what I call myself if someone asks what I do for a living. If I claimed to be a journalist then the next question would inevitably be concerning which publications I worked for. And as Blorge is a purely online publication, I doubt that response would be satisfactory to the questioner.
However, I certainly think it’s feasible that some bloggers call themselves journalists, especially the ones who endeavor to search out the finer details of a story which mainstream media has skimmed over or even ignored completely. And these bloggers/journalists often work for little money and no prestige. Unlike highly-paid and well-respected journos/columnists.
What adds to this conundrum is how journalism itself has changed since the dawning of the Web. A great many journalists now work in the same manner as bloggers, spouting opinion as readily as fact, and using online sources such as social networking sites for articles. So, while bloggers move closer to becoming journalists, journalists are moving in the other direction.
What I think we can all agree on is that we’re writers. Whether online or off, we write, sometimes for money, sometimes for pleasure, and always to produce interesting articles intended to appeal to as many people as possible.
In other words, why attach labels to what we do when we’re all essentially in this together?
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