The title has been under debate for several years. Doing a simple Google search will pull up results from almost a decade ago. There are people who argue for both sides but since you are reading my blog I’m going to give my opinion and being a blogger is much different than being a journalist. To rephrase blogging is not the same as journalism.
I have taken a journalism class, several years ago actually and if I had tried to submit any work with my opening paragraph from this blog post I would have failed instantly. The reason being that journalistic works typically have something called a Lead in the first paragraph. I say typically because there are times, in less serious pieces where you can bury the lead, but it still exists. The leads purpose is to answer the 5 W’s. The who, what, where, when and why of news. This brings us to our first difference of journalism and blogging. For the sake of being easier to read I will put them in a list format and you can feel free to skim through and read what resonates with you. As always if you would like to share your opinion feel free to in the comments section.
- Fairness
One of the primary distinctions between journalism and blogging is the sense of fairness. It is a journalist’s duty to ensure that they have covered all sides of a story, that both sides have an opportunity to speak, which is why in most news articles you read if the other side was not quoted you will read something along the lines of “The other party declined to comment”. In blogging however more often than not that is not the case. Did you notice how I ended my last paragraph? It was a call to action to comment if you disagreed with my viewpoints or assessments at any point (Falls 2010).
That may give the illusion of fairness but in reality it is not. How often do people actually look at the comments of something they read? If they do most of them unfortunately contain the dregs of society and are typically people arguing with no evidence to back up their statement. Rarely do you see someone who the article is written about actually commenting on it to give their side of the story, and even if they did who would pay attention? A journalist actually gives the opposite party of whatever he or she is writing about an opportunity to say something. Whether we agree with them or not at least both sides are given space in the piece of work to be read by all.
Objectivity falls under the umbrella of fairness as well. When you read a journalistic piece it should be unbiased. At no point should you get a sense of how the author of the piece feels about the topic in question. In blogging this is about as far from the case as possible. Most bloggers write because they have a passion for what they are writing about and blogs are usually an opinion piece. In this sense blogs are closer to editorials than they are to normal journalistic works.
- Medium Used
Another key difference between journalism and blogging is the medium used. By definition blogging is an internet only form of writing, after all blogging stands for Web Log. Journalists use many types of mediums. They use television, newspapers, magazines, radio and yes the internet as well. As you can see the internet is just one tool of the journalist while it is the only tool of the blogger. Can you think of any negatives this might cause? It’s actually our next point.
- Authenticity and Credibility
How trust worthy is the information you find on the internet? Unless you know the source of the piece you are reading you would not just follow advice you find online. It is something we all remember from school. Make sure you are using reputable sources, not Wikipedia or random sites like IHATECELEBRITIES.com. The information on these websites may not be accurate because there are no editors for information posted to the web. A blogger is held to their own moral code of what information to post and the accuracy of their sources.
A journalist on the other hand does have a series of checks and balances. That is not to say that no journalist has never gotten away with outright lying about a story, does the name Brian Williams (Boyer 2015) ring a bell? However it is much more difficult to publish false statements or fake news in reputable publications. There are editors that check over their work; also journalists do not have the benefit of the anonymity that bloggers can take advantage of. A journalist’s reputation is on the line every time they write. If they continue to do inappropriate things they will find themselves without work eventually, a blogger can change their screen name and start all over.
- Style and Structure
Throughout this post I have purposely used a light tone and a list structure to purposely highlight the fact that this is not a serious piece of journalistic work. This is more similar if anything to the website Cracked.com and their comedic lists, which is where I copied the format from. I have done this to further prove my point. You would never find this in the pages of The Washington Post, but that’s ok. Blogging gives you a much more free and personal liberties with your writing. Throughout the post I have asked you the reader questions directly and joked around, albeit weakly.
Another part to this is that journalists typically need to meet a word minimum. In this particular post I do too since this is an assignment for class but generally speaking bloggers can write to their hearts content. If their post is three hundred words or three thousand it makes no difference as they aren’t writing for a parent company but merely to get their point across.
- Sources
This brings me to my final point. A journalist relies on networking and this networking leads to reliable sources. People on the inside of things who can give the journalist information that they can in turn use to break a story open. A blogger on the other hand regurgitates information (again generally speaking) that they’ve seen elsewhere. They attract readers because they take whatever topic they have decided to write on and put a fresh spin on it. With this method of writing a bloggers topic does not necessarily have to be recent and their “source” is whatever they might have found online. Which as was mentioned in point three might not be the best source for material.
Conversely a journalist actively investigates a story on the ground floor. They leave their house and go out into the real world and get their hands dirty. There is danger involved sometimes in the case of investigative journalists. Sources are a key difference.
Closing Thoughts
It might seem as if I am being too hard on bloggers but I do respect the work they do. I am simply pointing out the differences between the two mediums. Yes they both involve writing but to say every blogger is a journalist can be insulting to the profession of journalism. This assignment has made me a blogger. Never would I dare to call myself a journalist. That is not to say the two must be mutually exclusive. Many journalists have blogs that they write and as mentioned in some of the points above the tone is much more relaxed and it’s more of an interactive medium. Some bloggers can become journalists in their lives if they enjoy writing enough. I simply want to draw the line that it goes too far to say that they are both exactly the same. What is your opinion?
References-
Falls, J. (2016, June 10). The Critical Difference Between Blogging And Journalism. Retrieved March 17, 2017, from https://socialmediaexplorer.com/content-sections/news-and-noise/the-critical-difference-between-blogging-and-journalism/
Boyer, D. (2015, February 10). NBC’s Brian Williams suspended 6 months without pay for Iraq lie. Retrieved March 17, 2017, from http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2015/feb/10/brian-williams-nbc-news-anchor-suspended-6-months-/
The Major Differences Between Blogging and Journalism | Comparison | Similarities | Pros & Cons. (2016, December 26). Retrieved March 17, 2017, from http://www.problogbooster.com/2016/12/difference-between-blogger-and-journalist-blogging-vs-journalism-weblogs-debate-comparison-pros-cons.html
Young, R. (2015, May 18). Blogging vs. Journalism: Identifying the Fundamental Differences | KoMarketing. Retrieved March 17, 2017, from https://komarketing.com/blog/blogging-vs-journalism-identifying-the-fundamental-differences/