Will the blogosphere adhere to the same standards of objectivity, fairness and truth as traditional journalists?
Just one of the 25 big questions for the future of journalism; according to Scott Hepburn.
Personally I think this is one of the more important concerns facing the future of journalism. Anyone who has the most basic computer and Internet navigation skills can create their own blog. Journalists, or at least good ones, go through years of training.
Speaking as someone who has received training in both Journalism and the “blogosphere” I think I’m probably in a minority. As a student of OSU’s School of Journalism and Broadcasting, I’ve received training in writing, classes in law and ethics of Journalism. I have also been fortunate enough to have professors who are interested and aware of the way journalism is changing today and therefore have been educated in the ways of blogging.
How do those bloggers who aren’t as fortunate as I am, get their lessons concerning the ethics of posting information? I realise that in today’s world of sharing information we have to have some level of trust in one another’s information, but how far do we go in trusting the honor’s system?
I don’t think that I will ever be able to trust just another user’s information as much as I can trust someones information who is backed by a long-standing organization. It’s just not the same level of professionalism. Professional journalists have to be trustworthy because they are held accountable by their employers and reputation. What holds bloggers accountable? I realise that most people’s own reputation as a trustworthy person is enough to hold them accountable, but what about for those who don’t care?
I think that if we are going to one day move to solely relying on bloggers over journalists, that there will be need to be some type of rating system that ranks more credible blogs over others. I’m not sure who would be in charge of doing so, maybe AP. In any case, there needs to be some system for separating the news and the noise.
April 7, 2009 at 5:46 am
I think that on the surface, it’s easy to see where you’re coming from. Newspapers have a long standing reputation of being trustworthy and reliable. But, to the hardcore bloggers all they have is their credibility. If Chris Brogan lost his credibility his hits would plummet. Of all of the good blogs on the internet, one of the few things they have in common are their passion for their audience. The good bloggers will do the right thing, and that’s what sets them apart from the middle aged men still in their mother’s basements.
April 7, 2009 at 3:10 pm
What my real concern is, how do you establish the difference between the good bloggers and the bad. What do you look at? The number of people reading their blog? Who is reading their blog? While I think credibility can create popularity, I don’t think popularity creates credibility. How does someone who is blogging in their mom’s basement establish that they are a credible source?
April 8, 2009 at 9:19 pm
I have always wondered when I ran across someone’s blog if it’s credible or not. There are many people who I follow blogging just because Handy has said that they have awesome blogs, so does this mean they are credible in what they say? I agree with what you’re saying, what makes them so “good” at blogging, is it just because they’re popular in the social media world?
May 4, 2009 at 5:56 pm
Jessica,
You raise an excellent point. Consider the following portion of a recent job posting seeking a managing editor for a non-profit group:
“Manage a growing team of more than 20 bloggers, maintaining regular communication and editorial oversight and providing advice on everything from headlines to writing topics (little copy editing is required – all bloggers publish content immediately without going through an editorial process.)”
After I read this, I sent an e-mail to the fellow who placed the ad asking why anyone should believe the veracity of anything that’s posted on the group’s site, if, as the ad implies, anything goes. I have yet to hear a reply.
Many of us in the journalism business have long suspected that these are the de facto rules on the Internet. I was just surprised to see someone put it in writing.
Any thoughts?