Bloggers and journalists, living together. Mass
hysteria!
One of the late George Carlin’s classic comedy
bits was about the differences between football and baseball. “Baseball is
played on a diamond in a park. The baseball park! Football is played on a
gridiron, in a stadium.”
These days some bloggers are doing journalism
and many journalists are writing blogs. Although the lines are sometimes blurred
- which has produced something I call blurnalism - there are some interesting
differences most of the time. So, what would it be like to compare blogging to journalism
in a similar way to Carlin’s treatment of baseball and football?
When you write a blog, you’re your own boss. You
can write about anything. When you’re a journalist, you’re work is supervised
by an editor or a producer who gives you assignments. In some cases,
journalists suggest topics, but those have to be approved.
In blogging, you can write as frequently or as infrequently as you want. In journalism, you have to complete assignments on a very regular basis - daily, weekly, or both.
In blogging, you can be speculative and veer off
in any direction. In journalism, you’re supposed to be objective and stick to
the facts.
In blogging, you can postpone a project if
something comes up. You can postpone a project indefinitely. In journalism,
there are news cycles and deadlines. Miss a few deadlines, and the editor could
give you the ax.
In blogging, you can pick and choose quotes from
anywhere. For many bloggers, there’s very little interaction with other human
beings. In journalism, you have to actually interview people yourself.
Sometimes you have to confront people at their places of work or knock on their
front doors.
In blogging, there’s no firm word count for a
story or article. A blog post could be 250 words, 400 words, or 1600 words. The
possibilities are endless! In journalism, where space is limited, there’s
normally a target. If the editor asks for 1200 words, the final product has to
be close to that so that it will fit properly.
In blogging, stories can be one-sided. You can
write entirely from your point of view. In journalism, when you write a
negative story about someone or some business, you have to try to make contact
to give that person or business a fair chance to tell their side of the story.
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I don’t mean to disparage blogging or bloggers. I’m
a blogger myself. Bloggers have unearthed many interesting and important
stories that may never have been covered otherwise. Bloggers who are experts in
their fields also provide a great deal of valuable information to consumers.
On the other hand, I don’t believe that all
journalists are trustworthy and professional in their work. Most Americans now
distrust the media and with good reason. Many journalists consistently allow
their own biases to seep into their work. It has become too obvious to ignore.
There are significant differences between
blogging and journalism. Those differences have an impact on the product. Consumers
should be aware of where the stories are coming from as they read, view, and
listen to various sources of information.
If you can think of any other funny or interesting differences between blogging and journalism, please leave a comment.
For
further reading, check out the following.
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