The problem
For years, the demise of the printed copy has been feared by newspapers all over the world. Readership for the printed copy has dropped and instead, readers are turning to the web for their daily dose of news.
With the web comes new opportunities for writers to have their work published. Blogs have become a popular way to broadcast opinions, whether it be on a writer’s really bad day or a commentary on a serious issue. Blogs are even becoming a haven for people to publish stories very much like news stories. But will blogs take over the world of reporting and cause readers to turn to them instead of their local newspapers?
It’s a question I’ve asked myself constantly since taking courses on technology and communication from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. And, it’s a question I bring up routinely in these classes. Is my career at jeopardy because of bloggers?
Fears
My fears on the issue are simple ones.
1. Will citizens turn to bloggers for information before they turn to newspapers?
2. The increase of blogs throughout the web could cause a decrease in the need for journalists.
3. More newspapers will begin to require journalists to carry their own daily blog, causing more personal opinions to enter newspapers, which are typically supposed to be neutral. This could have a drastic affect on the reputation of newspapers.
4. Once the blogging fad has passed by, will newspapers be here to pick up the pieces?
5. Is the future I hope to have in journalism bleak and should I start thinking about making my career in blogs?
Sources
Six resources that discuss the topic more:
1. Newspapers and Blogs: Closer than we think?
This article, written by David Vaina, compares newspaper articles and blogs on the Iraqi war during a week in March. Vaina exposes the differences in articles on both, also including sources from both.
2. Blog or Cog? Blogs forcing newspapers to re-examine role
This article is on blogging but more importantly, it’s on how newspapers are adding blogs to their own sites.
3. Should newspapers sponsor blogs written by reporters?
This article is similar to the previous one presented but comes from a different angle. It discusses the risks newspapers take when allowing blogs from their own reporters.
4. Blogs vs. Newspapers: Shirley Temple explains it all
This is a very interesting, yet satirical blog on newspapers and blogs. It’s actually a response to an editorial apparently written by a reporter on newspapers and how they are still going strong.
5. Gladwell.com - The derivative Myth
This is a blog written by Malcolm Gladwell, a magazine writer. In this blog he speaks about the importance of newspapers and how they continue to serve as information gatekeepers. The blog is actually written in defense of fellow blogger Chris Anderson, who disagreed with Gladwell on comments he made while speaking on a panel. Anderson posted on his blog his disagreement and this in turn, is Gladwell’s rebuttal.
Solution
So, what can newspapers do to ease their concerns about this growing problem?
To me, the only sensible solution to combat the issue is for newspapers to simply start reporting better. As a weekly newspaper reporter, we sometimes have stories that come out after the daily newspaper. My theory is since my article may be “old news” to those who read both papers, I need to ensure that my article is better than the daily. I think the same could apply to newspapers battling for attention over bloggers. Make your work better.
Some newspapers are stretching out and using blogs themselves. I tend to disagree with reporters having their own blogs IF they contain a host of opinions, especially if those opinions are based on an article they presented facts on earlier in aa news article. Readers may be mislead and possibly feel the reporter’s writing could be slanted. However, I do feel newspapers need to venture out and somehow take hold of the blogging revolution in other ways.
Finally, it is my personal opinion, and secretly my hope, that the popularity of blogs will slowly diminish and newspapers will again come out on top. I think blogs are a great resource for people to use but like all new things, everyone’s got one right now and I predict a majority of blogs will slowly disappear, leaving the real bloggers still going at it. These are the blogs I feel will eventually play a key role in newspapers success and rapid rise back to the top.
Amanda - being a blogophobe myself, I thoroughly enjoyed your EOTO project on Blog Phobia and posted a reaction to it on my blog. Just wanted to let you know!
You can access it at the following link: http://mcalabre1.wordpress.com/eoto-part-ii-reactions-to-eoto-issues/
Thanks,
Marina
An interesting thing in reading on the web about the new role of blogs and journalism and blogs as a source of news is that the writing is not new anymore – it’s getting to be a few years old. I would expect this is because blogs are not news anymore, but have become a part of the normal landscape. Something about the web writing about blogs and blogs as a source of news is that most of it seems speculative, or, more positively, reflective or anecdotal.
However, news blogs have been around long enough to start to appear as the subject of scholarly research. The journalism journals are beginning to publish article about the relationship between blogs and mainstream, traditional newspapers. For newspapers, the news seems to be that blogs are not replacing newspapers or journalism as a source of news, but that blogs are filling a role that newspaper do not, or are not, filling.
Regrettably, the most interesting journal articles are not available online, and time has not been sufficient to get a hard copy, but the online abstracts are interesting.
• “Mapping the blogosphere: Professional and citizen-based media in the global news arena” Journalism; Jun2007, Vol. 8 Issue 3, p235-261. This study analyzed the online network and link patterns involving six of the most popular news and political blogs, to determine their relationship to other blogs and the traditional news media. Findings suggest a relationship that is more complementary than competitive, with blogs relying heavily on professional news reporting for actual news content. [Perhaps suggestive of blogs being more analysis and opinion in their nature than a source of hard news?]
• “Use of Blogs as a Source of News Presents Little Threat to Mainline News Media” Newspaper Research Journal; Winter2007, Vol. 28 Issue 1, p99-102. This article reported on the impact of blogs as a news source on other media such as television and newspapers. One survey the article discussed, from 2006, from the Scripps Survey Research Center and Scripps Howard News Service in the U.S., found that only about 12 percent of survey respondents said they receive news from blogs in the week prior to the survey, and that only about 7 percent said they received news in two days in the previous week. [Again, perhaps suggestive that blogs may not be the source of hard news they are perceived to be?]
• “Mapping the journalism–blogging relationship” Journalism; Nov2006, Vol. 7 Issue 4, p477-500. This study also mapped the journalism-blogging relationship, through examining occupations. The study suggests that occupations exist within a network of other occupations that encroach into each other’s jurisdictional areas. External factors in the network of relationships include institutional loyalties and revenue needs. Internal factors include the degree that journalists can control the situations they face and their success in solving problems. The difficulties posed by the combination of these factors has led traditional journalism to neglect some types of news information, which in turn has been poached by bloggers. Some of these poached areas include opinion and partisan expression, “old stories” that journalism abandoned, stories driven by private and non-elite sources, and highly specialized content. [Perhaps suggestive that blogs are taking stories that journalism is not covering – perhaps filling a gap?]
Again, only the abstracts for the above three article are available. But it seems that some interesting information is emerging from the scholarly research.
• The article “Why Gartner’s blog estimates are shortsighted” in Communication World, May-June 2007 (available online, but through the Davis Library e-research facility) concludes that blogging is entering a phase of normalization and that blogs are being recognized as credible sources of information. This is described as blogs entering a “conversational era” as an information source, in a large degree a factor of a leading-edge technology becoming established the mainstream of personal and business communication.
[...] Reaction: Blog Phobia November 9th, 2007 I want to assuage my classmate, Amanda, that blogs and the Internet will not render the existence of newspapers and magazines moot. I hate to use a cliche, but when faced with change, [...]
Amanda,
You’ve taken an issue that I’ve followed for a while and reminded me why it’s such a personal issue: the future of my own job. I’ve spent a lot of my time in this certifcate program following what’s going on in newspapers and how the industry is changing. It’s been a tremendous learning experience to see what other newspapers are doing around the world to get online. I’m glad to see you’ve brought it back down to a personal level rather than the more 10,000-feet view I’ve been taking. And, it’s really great to hear from someone who’s working in a smaller newsroom,
I enjoyed reading your resources, the Blogs vs. Newspapers and Gladwell’s response. Gladwell notes that it’s very difficult to find anyone who hasn’t been influenced by anyone. I find it’s sometimes hard to find completely original thoughts online. I’ll often read things that are links to someone else who’s saying the same thing and linking to the same places. As both the Shirley Temple post and Gladwell note, I’m looking for a diverse group of original content for my news.
[...] Friday, November 9th, 2007 in Uncategorized Amanda makes no secret of her fears/distrust of the blogosphere in her EOTO project, aptly titled Blog Phobia. [...]