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.