What is a blog?

I have just finished my assignment on what is blogging for Brad and I thought I would post it here for all you interested readers. It just gives you all out there in the depths of cyberspace some idea of the work I am doing:

The rise of digital media in the late 20th and early 21st centuries has led to the emergence of a phenomenon whose popularity has grown from mere dozens in 1999 to millions by 2005 (Jensen 2003). The word is on every Internet user’s lips – blogs.

A web log, or blog, may be understood as a user-generated web-based publication where entries are made in an informal journal or diary format (wikipedia 2007). Blogs function in a number of ways, but primarily operate as a platform for users to comment and record their thoughts regarding a specific issue, and publish them over the Internet. Over the years, however, blogging has grown from a mere online record of a person’s thoughts to a “credible means of news dissemination and discussion” (wikipedia 2007). Bloggers have become media producers, but how does the journalism they produce compare and differ to conventional print and broadcast journalism?

In a democratic society, the media generally function to provide citizens with the information they need to make informed decisions about their society and a blog, as a platform for media production, functions in this way. However, blogs go beyond this function and differ greatly from conventional journalistic practices.

Arguably the leading difference between conventional journalism and blogging is that conventional journalism does not promote citizen participation, and has come under much criticism for its fortress-like media practices (Rosen 1999). Conventional journalism does not provide media consumers with the opportunity to comment on and discuss news issues. Blogging, however, promotes the participation of citizens in the media. One could argue that blogs are an example of citizen’s journalism whereby citizens are called upon to play an "active role in the process of collecting, reporting, analyzing and disseminating news and information" (wikipedia 2007). Through its highly interactive nature, blogs give agency to individuals, motivating them to debate, discuss and question news issues. Conventional journalism, I would argue, promotes passivity on the part of its audience, while blogging promotes action.

Blogs also differ from conventional journalism in that they are produced by users for other users. The majority of bloggers are not qualified journalists and are producing news as citizens (Jensen 2003). Blogging is essentially a conversation between citizens and, as a result, is solution-oriented (Marlow 2004). Conventional news reports concentrate on publishing information on news issues, without necessarily thinking about the solutions. By stimulating commentary and debate, blogs do not only discuss the problem, but also potential solutions.

Another difference between blogs and conventional journalism is that, unlike conventional journalism, blogs are not obliged to adhere to ethical codes of conduct. While print journalists have to answer to the Press Ombudsmans Code and broadcast journalists are held accountable to the Broadcasting Complaints Commission of South Africa (BCCSA), blog users are so vast and numerous that there is no current means by which to regulate the information they publish. This has negative consequences in that it allows bloggers to fabricate facts and, as a result, the credibility of information posted on blogs is questionable.

Conventional journalism primarily utilises one medium by which to communicate news to citizens, be it print, radio or television. Blogs, however, support the use of multimedia, providing a user with a number of ways to consume news from a single platform. This serves to enhance the quality of information that users can access and provides them with a more holistic view of the news. Blogs also have special tools, such as feed readers, that allow users to access information that is only of interest to them. Instead of reading through an entire newspaper or listening to an entire news broadcast, bloggers can utilise feed readers to link to issues that are most interesting to them (Marlow 2004).

Blogs, while sharing a similar function to conventional journalism in democratic societies, differ greatly in a number of ways. As the popularity of blogging continues to rise, there may be a shift away from conventional, fortress-like journalistic practices to a more citizen-oriented approach to news coverage.

Works Cited
2007.“Citizen’s Journalism”. Wikipedia. Retrieved February 20, 2007 from the World Wide Web: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citizen_journalism
2007.“Blogging”. Wikipedia. Retrieved February 20, 2007 from the World Wide Web: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blogging
Jensen, M. 2003. “Emerging Alternatives: A Brief History of Weblogs”. Columbia Journalism Review , no 5. Retrieved February 20, 2007 from the World Wide Web: http://www.cjr.org/issues/2003/5/blog-jensen.asp?printerfriendly=yes
Marlow, C. 2004. “Audience, structure and authority in the weblog community”. MIT Media Laboratory. Retrieved February 20, 2007 from the World Wide Web: http://alumni.media.mit.edu/~cameron/cv/pubs/04-01.pdf
Rosen, J. 1999. “The Action of the Idea: Public Journalism in Built Form”. T. Glasser (ed). The Idea of Public Journalism. New York : Guilford Press.