Blogging and news media

For those who are immersed in technological environments, with ever-increasing computing speed, continuous multimedia software improvements, and the increasingly ubiquitous nature of the word wide web, the ownership of news and the power to create it has been significantly challenged. The writing herein is focused on the effects that blogging and the emergence of the blogosphere have had on mass media news outlets and the perception of the news consumer. To deny that there us a still a staunch vanguard of gatekeepers, especially in the release of academic and political information, as book critics, peer-review journals, and editorial staff, would be myopic if not naive. There does exist at every avenue of entry into the dissemination ether gatekeepers, but like a prairie dog, the news blogger as found the back way into the media den. Bloggers have circumvented the gatekeeping practices of large media outlets, allowing many voices to contribute to the conversation, ultimately elevating the notion of community. Today, everyone has the opportunity to enrich the news dialogue, whereas even twelve years ago, most, if not all, media consumers were dependent on large media outlets for their news content. At the very heart of blogging is the egalitarian aspect of the practice. Any textually literate person can start a Weblog with virtually no technology or web development know-how. The result, which is espoused by many as the major benefit and many others as the major problem, is that the forums in the blogosphere are open and anyone can take the podium. No voice can be shut out. What I believe is an added benefit, but others may regard of the easing of the parameters in place to prevent poorly sourced information from being published, is that blogging has an instantaneity inherent in its very design. The time from draft to dissemination is immediate. Equally fast, is the response time of readers, who are never limited by the partial functions of newspaper editors who subjectively decide what is fit to print. Farrell points out in, “The Blogosphere as a Carnival of Ideas,” that blogging allows for both readers and news writers to “generate [a] topics previously barred from discussion.” Admittedly, the amount of input, commentary from outside the news media, raises questions about viability. Paul Andrews, a well-known news blogger, has already addressed the question of viability, claiming that, although it is extremely important, the major impetus for blogging increases is due to demand. He attributes the rise in, “blogs and other forms of online journalism… because of the rapid decline in the credibility in the news media.” So the question remains, if blogging is a legitimate form of journalism, or is it the result of a bunch of hacks that are fed up with mass media news? It could very well be a combination of both. The lack of scholarly sources or the self-reflexive sources provided by bloggers has been used as a means to discredit news blogs as well. I have given the notion of credibility in news a good deal of thought. Often “serious” news journalists are asked to reveal their sources. In fact, up until the recent activities of Bush 43’s administration, news journalist could provide their sources with a veil of anonymity, in order to promote those who might not come forward to reveal news relevant information. It is an unstated practice that journalist always corroborate their sources. This has been taken for granted since the early part of the twentieth century, during the era of yellow journalism and the robber tycoons. Moreover, print journalism rarely if ever uses in-text citation. There must be some other reason why they are considered reliable and credibly and it is do to the provenance of the organization from which their work emanates. A journalist from the New York Times has the newspaper’s many years of journalistic integrity for clout. Perhaps in years to come, new blogs will have established that same clout. However this does not belie the question. With the corporatization of media outlets and the growing demand by shareholders for those outlets to deliver audiences to consumers, who is the most credible source for news? All major news outlets are subsidiaries of for-profit global organizations. In contrast, most news and political blogs are operated with little or no profit margin or potential? This raises another question. If there is a distinguishable civics cause behind news and political orientated blogs. Is it the blogs or the motivations behind their inception that are entirely new? The blog is here to stay. However, a settlement also is needed for blogging with all of its benefits to move from the realm of arm chair quarterbacking to legitimate news sourcing. This will take time, and hopefully, there will be a divestment between the narcissistic blog that masquerades as a news source and the blogs that offer a credible alternative to mainstream media.