Journalists do it every day do bloggers have the same stamina?
By Tom Foremski - February 7, 2006
Tom Foremski, for Silicon Valley Watcher
I've worked as a software engineer, granted, it wasn't for long, not much more than a year. But I know what the work is like and the challenges within that profession.
However, I wonder if software engineers, many of whom are also bloggers and critics of mainstream media, know much about journalists and how they do their jobs?
If people think journalism is much like blogging, then anybody can be a journalist. I often tell people if they can write an email, they can become a blogger, as a way of encouraging them to start blogging.
But journalism is definitely nothing like blogging, and it requires a professional class; I don't think an army of bloggers with day jobs has the ability to can fill the shoes of professional journalists and provide society with the type of high-quality media that it needs.
Yes, anybody publish but that doesn't mean a thing. It's the same as the fact that anybody can be their own courtroom lawyer, and we know the punch line to that one...
Similarly, society would be foolish to be reliant on just anybody producing its media, imho.
Here's a description of some of my work as a journalist at the Financial Times--working as part of a team with the ability to report and publish high quality news in minutes. . .
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February 7, 2006 | Permalink | Comment | Category: MediaWatch | Subscribe to SVW
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Comments (2)
I do agree with what you say about Journalism. Its no piece of cake. But according to me, bloggers are people who write about day to day stuff (mostly) and in a way, report about latest things happening around them. Newspapers are meant to provide you with latest news around you and elsewhere, and what bloggers post on their blogs is more or less the same thing. So its a different way to read about what is happening around you, through different people, maybe from people who were directly/indirectly involved with latest news. I feel every newspaper/news channel have their own mindset and the Journalists from that organization report through that biased filter. Bloggers in a way break that barrier.
Posted: February 7, 2006 9:51 AM
I take your points but are bloggers naturally less biased than journalists? I would say bloggers are far more biased and hold a point of view while journalists strive to be fair because they know that they have high visibility.
The larger your audience, the more responsibility an individual or a publication has to its community to work to provide fair, accurate media. You see that very plainly at the NYT whch takes its journalism very seriously and is constantly monitoring its effect on society.
Posted: February 7, 2006 12:48 PM