An interesting point came up today at the Like Minds social media conference in Exeter. During a discussion on content, someone asked what was the difference between a journalist and a blogger. It created a stir. “They’re the same thing,” came one response. “It’s only a question of what you want to call yourself.”
Another: “A journalist checks facts and reports them. A blogger just writes their opinion.” So a journalist can be a blogger, but a blogger can’t be a journalist? What allows a journalist to claim the label? And where does “citizen journalism” fit in?
There isn’t an easy answer. Dictionary.com says a journalist is someone who carries out journalism – “the occupation of reporting, writing, editing, photographing, or broadcasting news or of conducting any news organization as a business.” So far so good.
It also offers this looser and more opinionated definition of journalism as: “writing that reflects superficial thought and research, a popular slant, and hurried composition, conceived of as exemplifying topical newspaper or popular magazine writing as distinguished from scholarly writing: He calls himself a historian, but his books are mere journalism.” Less helpful. Can “superficial thought” be journalism?
So a journalist produces news. But what is news? That’s a debate in itself. The popular consensus is that news is a fair, accurate and balanced presentation of facts to create a story. A blogger could do that as well. And “citizen journalists” are somewhere in-between, volunteers adhering to “journalistic” standards. But all these definitions are built on shifting sand as the media landscape changes and news organisations try to encourage more “user generated content”.
Ultimately, the label is irrelevant. It’s the content that counts. The most important lesson here is that the reader must question the source and context of what they are reading. They can decide how much to trust it. As long as there’s a clear distinction between facts and opinion, readers know what they’re getting. It’s not perfect, but it mostly works.
There’s also the issue of the authority of the person or brand delivering the content. The internet means that everyone is now a publisher. That may be a trusted and reliable local blog, or a trusted global news provider. Reputation is all-important.
