Bloggers vs. Journalists

It’s almost a Spy vs. Spy kind of scenario.

Now, if you run a Google search on it, what you’ll see is a gaggle of annoying results. But, I fear none of these results give the audience the view of what it really means.

Okay, so right now I’m writing on a blog, but I’m also a journalist, WHOA NOW. That is Inception of the WEB, my friends. No, not really, but I’m working you into my point.

Blogs CAN (KEYWORD IS CAN) be viable sources of information.  Most blogs are not. It depends on the author and the sources they use to get and distribute their information.

See, when I originally started blogging I made it  a point to talk about the credibility of information. What I’m about to tell you is what I’ve learned in my Press in America and Mass Media Law classes.

People tend to choose the sites they visit based on their own perceptions and beliefs. This is fine, HOWEVER, people tend to ONLY view these sites and don’t background check where the blogger/writer is getting their info.  I watched a documentary that was made that’s belief was that 9/11 was a government plot. The first 15 minutes of it, you’re thinking to yourself ‘how can I not believe this?!’ But then once you realize that the filmmakers were picking and choosing preliminary articles that covered 9/11 but did not post the information we knew coming in the next months after the tragedy, well, the documentary is completely false.

And a lot of people don’t understand that.

Take this article by Forbes about the Farleigh Dickinson University poll about how informed viewers are of their news.

When you view/read/consume news with an ideological preference, you are seeing a one-sided or unbalanced view.

So, what do I want you to know about Bloggers vs. Journalists?

A blogger can be a good harbinger of news if they back up their arguments with credible (fair and well reporting/coverage). It is the same with  journalists. Journalists are guilty of being one-sided, but they are never as drastic as a blogger can be.  Keep that in mind also.

My tip to you is to keep your mind open, question everything, and don’t box yourself into your ideology. Sometimes finding out what you believe in is wrong about something absolutely sucks because no one wants to be wrong.  But, it’ll make you a better, smarter person.  I’ll promise you that.