Former Press Offered Public Little Say
Before blogs existed, the news corporations exercised nearly all of the control in determining what news would be delivered to the public. Journalists and news corporation employees regarded only partially what the public expected to hear while confining to industry limitations. Limitations included availability of personnel at events deemed newsworthy, money, space, time, corporate sponsorships, and many other restrictions that affected what was delivered via the news. One of the biggest challenges with the press, prior to such tools as blogging, included the issue of timing. If a story had not been discovered early enough, referring to the notion that after 24 hours news is old news, it wouldn’t be told. The public had little control over content and had to succumb to the news industry’s selection of material. This was the way the news operated prior to the abundant use of blogs.
Blogging at Work: Trent Lott Case
Trent Lott, former Majority Speaker of Congress, was witness to the power of blogs when the news media failed to step in. After making what many considered a racist comment at Strom Thurmond’s 100th birthday party, Lott found himself in a position least expected. News covering the event did not take Lott’s commentary to the press, viewing their coverage as reporting the celebration itself as opposed to seeking out controversial statements. While the press failed to report his comments, the bloggers sought to bring the issue to discussion. Shortly after the celebration, bloggers began creating posts discussing Lott’s speech. National press finally recognized the public’s need for coverage on the story and began publishing the information. This coverage eventually led to Lott’s 2007 resignation as Majority Speaker.
Freedoms Offered To Blogs & Power in Numbers
This is a classic example of how blogs may accomplish what the traditional press may not. While Lott’s story was old news a day after it happened, a time before it was even thought to analyze his comments, the bloggers thought differently. Conveniently, bloggers don’t follow the same restrictions that the press falls under. Blog posts do not operate under a time interval where news becomes old news. Participating in this form of discussion is virtually free and much quicker than in a professional reporting setting. Because of the large discussion that took place via the web following Lott’s commentary, the public became engaged forcing the press to take action. The power of numbers, seen in this case, plays a major role in almost forcing the press to become engaged in a topic the public deems newsworthy.
Blogs As Tools Of Collaboration
Blogs offer collaboration. This is an essential component to creating networks and news that can be reviewed and discussed. Although many may argue the validity of web based content, it is important to recognize that while anyone may post information, in doing so it is up for public scrutiny. To engage in this sort of debate, typical blogs often offer a “comment” option, allowing viewers to publicly post opinions of that particular post. Even while content may arguably not provide the exact truth, keeping in mind that blogs are often based on opinion, it does draw to the public eye topics worthy of discussion. While the news used to be purely in the hand of “professionals,” this tool has offered “nonprofessionals” to take an active role in the distribution of information.
Educational Uses For Blogs
Although offering a means of distributing more news and helping demonstrate what the public views as valuable discussion, other purposes for the use of blogging exist. Another use for blogs has been in the educational department. They offer an interactive portal for learning. Many classes now use or encourage the use of blogs. As Robert Godwin-Jones discussed in his journal article, having students publicly post a journal entry opens up commentary from others to offer praise and constructive criticism. Godwin-Jones also suggests that using this tool may help demonstrate a student’s progression throughout his or her studies by tracking improvement. Aside from these obvious educational benefits, blogs may also be used to provide a link to other educational resources for students to access and serve as a means of communication outside of the classroom.
Corporate Uses For Blogs
With the increasing popularity of this tool for communication, many companies are now looking to blogging as a quick and easy way to communicate with consumers. Many websites for organizations offer a link to a blog that displays information on upcoming products, customer support, and general topics of interest on their products and services. For example, http://googleblog.blogspot.com is Google’s blog providing product and industry information to users. Often times, consumers are first directed to a blog to locate topics relevant to question that may concern them. This demonstrates the growing corporate understanding of the power of using this communication tool to engage with consumers.
Political Uses For Blogs
Political use of blogs seemed to emerge greatly due to the effects of 9/11. From this point, they continued to gain exposure and use. Blogs also gained exposure during the 2004 election. Although the primary user of this service, Howard Dean, saw just as great a fall as he did a rise from blogging and use of internet resources, it is important to see the significance of his online presence in gaining attention.
Many other examples of its use and cases demonstrating its capabilities exist and would take numerous hours to define. Consider this: How often do you type in a search query that doesn’t return with at least one blog article? It is difficult at this point in our society to search the web without coming across this type of journaling. With endless opportunities and the constant growth in use, Blogs have and will continue to gain popularity within the social community.
Adamic, Lada, and Natalie Glance. The Political Blogosphere and the 2004 U.S. Election: Divided They Blog. 4 Mar. 2005. Web. 21 July 2010.
"Blogs Make the Headlines." Wired News. Web. 21 July 2010.
Godwin-Jones, Robert. "EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES Blogs and Wikis: Environments for On-line Collaboration." Language Learning & Technology 7.2 (2003): 12-16. May 2003. Web. 21 July 2010.
Official Google Blog. Web. 21 July 2010.
Shirky, Clay. Here Comes Everybody the Power of Organizing without Organizations. New York: Penguin, 2009. Print.
"Trent Lott Announces His Resignation - Politics - Msnbc.com." Breaking News, Weather, Business, Health, Entertainment, Sports, Politics, Travel, Science, Technology, Local, US & World News- Msnbc.com. Web. 21 July 2010.
While blogs can be used to further many worthwhile causes, I also think that there is an inherrent danger of not having to follow rules, that professional journalists are obliged to adhere to. Unlike with your blog, many other bloggers do not list sources, and just like a lot of other information on the internet it can mislead many people to believe information, that is incorrect or outright dangerous. This is not to say, that blogs should not exist. Just pointing out the potential problems, that can come out of "uncontrolled" media.
ReplyDeleteThis is great point and conveniently exactly what I have been working to discuss in my next blog post to be posted. In this blog post I will address the issues of defining "the journalist." It is difficult to determine validity of posters and may, in fact, be dangerous. This is a key reason I feel that New Media education should be incorporated into early education. In a research topic I reported on a year back I focused on the dangers of the uneducated reader/consumer.
ReplyDeleteMy best suggestion before going into too much detail is to (1) stay educated and educate others, and (2) consider comparing varying opinions to find the best compilation of information while also doing background research on the reporter before believing what you read. A person working in the industry for years with the support and recognition of industry professionals along with an educational background is clearly a more reliable source than the "anonymous" poster or the 8th grader posting a blog for fun. I hope my future post can open up this interesting discussion even further! It's a very sensitive topic that will take much more time to fully evaluate by society as a whole.
In the mean time, one thing stands: blogs offer social collaboration and a platform to voice opinions. One of the best uses I see is the educational setting. An example used was that of a student studying in a foreign country blogging in that language. It offers a way to track the students progression in their mastering of the language while seeking out constructive criticism from others. I believe that it is true that there are both positive and negative aspects to blogs. We have a ways to go in defining where boundaries may be made in a definitive manner as to who is considered a "journalist" by definition and who is not.