Tonight on the 5:00 news on WHOI, Elaine Hopkins was interviewed regarding a Peoria judge’s ruling that bloggers aren’t part of the news media. It was an interesting segment.
My favorite line, however, was when Tim McGinnis asked Elaine if she always researches both sides of a story and she responded, “Sometimes. It depends on the story.” Well, I have to give her credit for being truthful in her answer. She certainly has never made any effort to look at the pro-rail side of the Kellar Branch issue, or to correctly report the facts about it, either on her blog now or when she was reporting for the Journal Star.
But I digress. The HOI story also includes reaction from local bloggers. They didn’t put names with the comments in case the blogger wanted to remain anonymous and so they could speak more freely. However, I’ve never been one to leave anonymous comments, so I’ll just tell you that mine is the second one (the long one with the links in it). The most interesting story I read on the matter was this one from ABC News:
Despite the rap that bloggers simply “bloviate” and “don’t try to find things out,” as conservative newspaper columnist Robert Novak once sniffed, the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and the National Security Agency (NSA) have altered policies to indicate they’re taking blogs seriously, and a growing number of public offices are actively reaching out to the blogosphere.
The CIA recently updated its policies on Freedom of Information Act requests to allow bloggers to qualify for special treatment once reserved for old-school reporters. And last August, the NSA issued a directive to its employees to report leaks of classified information to the media — “including blogs,” the order said.
Like I said to HOI (and this isn’t original with me), reporting is reporting, whether it’s on the radio, on TV, or on a blog. The medium does not change the nature of the content. We may need to develop some criteria to separate the serious reporters from the crackpots for the purposes of giving media credentials, but I don’t believe “publishes on the internet only” and “isn’t an incorporated business” are among them.
Mine’s the third comment, the one that mentions the Federalist Papers. Like that’s a shocker. 🙂
What was slightly disappointing (but I suppose obvious/inevitable) was that both Elaine and Tim asked what makes a blogger a “real” journalist and are they held to the same standards of ethics as real journalists, etc etc etc. Well, this “real” journalism with ethics and unbiased reporting of which you speak is a very recent invention, largely pioneered by the NYTimes (to sell newspapers). Before that, newspapers were biased (often screamingly so), and quite open about it. The idea that news should be “fair and balanced” and that journalists have an ethical code is quite modern, quite 20th century, and I absolutely reject as lacking in legal precedent and journalistic tradition the idea that journalists have to be unbiased or reporting something more than opinion.
The question really shouldn’t be whether bloggers are “real” journalists — the questions should be a) why the hell is the government defining who is and isn’t press? and b) why aren’t court sessions open to the public?
Obviously as an attorney I understand the PRACTICAL reasons why juvenile court is often closed to the public, and I agree with many of them. But as an ideal, ALL government actions, including juvenile court, should be open to the public. So we should seriously examine times when they’re not.
I don’t want to sound like I’m picking on mainstream journalists. Half my friends are journalists (I “came up” through the student newspaper in college) and they are people who work damned hard at being ethical journalists in line with modern journalistic ethics. But I absolutely reject putting limitations on something as crucial to our democracy as press freedom.
And if one more person picks on blogs that mention cats ……….
🙂 Hey, when Billy and I were on “At Issue” with Jonathan Ahl, we defended your honor. Who says you can’t be a serious blogger and write about your cats?
Is there any type of accreditation that a journalist or reporter can get?
“Is there any type of accreditation that a journalist or reporter can get?”
There are trade groups you can join, but since press freedom is a fundamental Constitutional right, it would be impossible to “license” journalists and make it a restricted-entry profession like medicine or law or accounting. IMHO, it would also be wrong to do so.
@CJ — I know, you and Billy are my cat-knights. Order of the Tubby Feline or something.
It’s time for Peoria bloggers to set aside their differences and organize, then send a delegation to the courts, and anywhere else they meet opposition.
Many issues are at stake here — not just juvenile court but protection of anonymous sources and access to events restricted to news media.
I plan to attend the bloggers meeting tonight to raise this issue of organizing. If there’s an agenda, put me on it.
My first thought – exactly! FoxNews is an oxymoron. They certainly are NOT “fair and balanced.” So if Murdoch can skew to the right all of his journalistic corporations, how is that any different from some bloggers?
The trick will be separating the vastly increased amount of wheat from the unbelievable amount of chaff.
The trick is figuring out who is interested in “reporting” and who is interesting in getting dirt on people. Again, a person could start a blog, cover a hearing and then never publish. Once you open the door.
“The trick is figuring out who is interested in “reporting” and who is interesting in getting dirt on people. Again, a person could start a blog, cover a hearing and then never publish. Once you open the door.”
So? Most people ARE reporters because they like getting dirt on people. And all the TIME as a reporter you do a bunch of research on a particular story and it simply doesn’t pan out. Now you want the rule to be, “You’re only a journalist if you write about everything you research as a possible story”? Get ready for some seriously boring “news.”
Gee. It used to be nice to read these blog sites, chime in on matters concerning Peoria, area events, people, etc. It was [is] a welcome change from newspaper editorials; your ed is published days after a relevant article, news event…., your name is plastered all over the place for your ‘enemies’, employers, etc to see. It was simple, it was educational, it was even fun.
Getting a little scary now.