This ties in nicely with the debate on Mark Cuban's blog about allowing/banning bloggers whether they work for a mainstream media organisation, or they're an individual blogging in their bedroom...It started here: http://www.blogmaverick.com/2008/03/10/bloggers...
As a journalist I can see where you're coming from. But at the same time, the best validation of any blogger is whether their content is any good or not. You could judge that by their readership, or their time spent blogging, or you could judge it by their about page, or 5 latest posts.
Someone without any professional grounding could still be very insightful, if they spend every hour studying the media. That's more than most journalists actually do!
Many traditional journalists may, or may not have academic journalist qualifications, or professional qualifications. A press card simply shows you belong to an organisation, or you're employed as a journalist. And there are plenty of people who have faked or added to freelance contracts etc.
The only time I ever used my press pass/business card was in a situation where I had to gain immediate access/prove my identity quickly.
Jonathan Kleiman
· 1 year ago
There's a big difference between a blogger for WSJ and a blogger for the blogger's own blog. I'm not saying we should give them different names or anything.. I like how they seem like they're in the same field. But .. um... lets give the first group press passes and the second group nothing.
Dan Thornton
· 1 year ago
Why?
Is a blog on the WSJ guaranteed more traffic than that of an individual, for example?
Or is someone employed by the WSJ guaranteed to have more knowledge on a subject? More contacts? More links back from other blogs?
I wouldn't argue that every single blog is created equal, but I also wouldn't believe that every blog backed by a media company is guaranteed to be more worthy than every blog created by a private individual.
And where do you draw the line for professional media bloggers vs private? A professional magazine can have as little as 10,000 readers...
I *like* that I have to use my own critical thinking powers to determine for myself if I find something to be credible in the Blogosphere -- I like discovering "no name" bloggers based solely on the quality of their writing. The fact that some big name bloggers are immediately thought to be more credible than the average Joe -- and therefore generates a ton more attention/reaction/commentary -- even if they don't have anything better to say, seems to go counter to the blog ethos in the first place. We already have plenty of media spaces where credentials are everything... do we really want or need blogs to follow that model?
All Comments
As a journalist I can see where you're coming from. But at the same time, the best validation of any blogger is whether their content is any good or not. You could judge that by their readership, or their time spent blogging, or you could judge it by their about page, or 5 latest posts.
Someone without any professional grounding could still be very insightful, if they spend every hour studying the media. That's more than most journalists actually do!
Many traditional journalists may, or may not have academic journalist qualifications, or professional qualifications. A press card simply shows you belong to an organisation, or you're employed as a journalist. And there are plenty of people who have faked or added to freelance contracts etc.
The only time I ever used my press pass/business card was in a situation where I had to gain immediate access/prove my identity quickly.
Is a blog on the WSJ guaranteed more traffic than that of an individual, for example?
Or is someone employed by the WSJ guaranteed to have more knowledge on a subject? More contacts? More links back from other blogs?
I wouldn't argue that every single blog is created equal, but I also wouldn't believe that every blog backed by a media company is guaranteed to be more worthy than every blog created by a private individual.
And where do you draw the line for professional media bloggers vs private? A professional magazine can have as little as 10,000 readers...
http://daringfireball.net/2008/03/kahney_jackass