Assignment 2
Web Communications 101: Communication and Collaboration Online
Assignment Title: Blogging
Web Communications 101: Communication and Collaboration Online
Assignment 2: Essay: Blogging
Essay Question: Choose one Web 2.0 platform discussed during module two and analyse the extent to which this platform has changed, and/or has the potential to change, the way people communicate and collaborate.
IS BLOGGING SERIOUS JOURNALISM OR JUST A TOOL
In researching this paper "is blogging serious journalism or just a tool", it became apparent there are conflicting ideologies as to whether blog writers should be considered legitimate journalists. This paper will discuss the evolution in regard of general personal blogging to greater social acceptability of blogs as a legitimate journalistic avenue.
When initially researching for blog definitions utilising the Internet, a user is likely to discover that blogs grew historically out of personal websites that were common at the inception of the World Wide Web. Rebecca Blood comments on the origins of blogs, "... original weblogs were link-driven sites. Each was a mixture in unique proportions of links, commentary, and personal thoughts and essays ..." (Blood, 2000). Delve into Internet history with minimum research and you find information about Justin Allyn Hall who had one of the first personal blogs. Hall's personal website or homepage developed as an online journal originally known as a weblog, terminology used before the inception and common use of the word 'blog'. "... Although in the early days of the web it was always possible for users to create their own web pages, now through user participation large numbers of people can shape the nature of the web through collaboration. In many cases web-based applications are specifically built as platforms for people to populate with content ..." (Curtin, 2010) "... The evolution of the Internet and its content has generated extended study and discussion forums concerning involvement and integration into everyday lives. As a form of new media technology, the Internet is now regarded as being one of the most pivotal and accessible technologies available ..." (Herbert, 2010) Blogs continue to evolve with the ease and immediacy of new blogging tools hence eradicating the barrier to accessibility as websites are developed within minutes (app 1) instead of hours and days once made complicated by the nature of Hyper Text Markup Language codes experienced by Justin Allyn Hall and others.
Due to the increasing level of activity and creativity, the negative image of blogging in mainstream media seems to be declining as the blogosphere becomes more popular. The heart and soul of blog reporting is the individual and/or the group of individuals opining on the fly and responding post-haste to everyone. Mary-Rose Papandrea discusses the idea of privilege, "... most commentators considering the issue have expressed deep concern about the notion that bloggers and other citizen journalists should be entitled to the privilege of being labeled a journalist, one issue persists as a sticking point: whether so-called 'pyjama clad bloggers' should be entitled to invoke a reporter's privilege ..." (Papandrea, 2007) Gina Masuallo Chen, twenty year veteran newspaper journalist discusses "... the question is compelling because it goes to the very heart of this battle between the old journalism and the new journalism. So many journalists today seem to have intense anger directed at blogs, which they see as a looming enemy that is trying to corrupt journalism, blogging isn't journalism but journalists can blog ..." (Chen 2009) In what might be the most lasting permutation for journalists, that focus has thrown blogging into beat coverage by an individual or a team of reporters and as such people will use the information how-ever they wish. Although many blogs taken into consideration are indelibly online personal journals, some have come to be highly regarded as sources of information utilised by traditional media. "... Conversations between blogs can move quickly, often the speed of online communications is emphasised. News, popular videos, ideas and images can spread very quickly. Once of the advantages of citizen media is this speed. Major events reported as rapidly by the people who experience them as by mainstream media. Even mainstream media use blog posts published by people who happen to be close to an event ..." (Rettberg, 2008) It is intrinsic to keep in mind that blogs are now influential in what was once considered the ubiquitous main stream media of newspapers, television and radio. "...With the Internet, these spatial and temporal barriers no longer exist. As a result, more people are able to contribute their ideas and opinions to major public discourse ..." (Papandrea, 2007)
The Observer gardian.co.uk, news, media and blogging site hosts a list titled 'The world's 50 most powerful blogs' whose content range is an eclectic blog roll from the mundane to political satire. What is of more interest is the number one position on this broad spectrum list 'The Huffington Post', a media site published and funded by millionaire Arianna Huffington whose ideology has been to take blog journalism forward in recognition of the pyjama or citizen journalists. Notably "Technorati.com, one of the most comprehensive blog search engines on the Internet" (Rettberg, 2008) also lists The Huffington Post as its number one blog site. " ... The Huffington Post quickly became one of the most influential and popular journals on the web. It recruited professional columnists and celebrity bloggers. It hoovered up traffic. Its launch was a landmark moment in the evolution of the web because it showed that many of the old rules still applied to the new medium ..." (Observer, 2010)
What is interesting to consider and notable, is that Internet journalism in new media is more often than not now highly interactive. "... In fact, traditional media outlets now have their own blogs. This institutional lowering of barriers to this medium may be a natural consequence of its growth and use by many ..." (Flanagan, 2006) When accessing the Internet web page for American site The Huffington Post the user espies a deluge of information, but easy navigating along the top of the screen to twenty fifth heading 'blogs' is a clear and simple process. Once entered you are delivered to the linked Internet site 'Top Posts/Blogger Index', a subcategorised interactive page that enables the user to access other linked pages i.e. 'most viewed', 'most emailed', 'most comments', 'most fans' and 'alphabetical'; the historical archive for blog submissions. The 'abreast of the times' site demonstrates that the high profile new medium news facility considers interactive blogging, inclusive of a fan base, to be of increasing importance. With this in consideration, The Huffington Post started its journey as a new media Internet site that has not deviated to "real" paper but remains globally accessible and solely online.
In comparison, Australian medias The Australian, Sydney Morning Herald and Courier Mail each originated as main stream 'real life' newspapers that have made the technological leap incorporating Internet news sites to their pre existing formats. All sites contain blogging as a way for readership to interact and enabling the Medias to expand and maintain their reader base. "... The biggest challenge is because we have this new world media where you receive content and you participate in content - the content of media has become two-way ..." (Law, The Australian, 2010) Within the Opinion & Blogs linked page of The Australian are a number of interactive blog opinions. 'Jack the Insider Blog' a popular political blogger, extracted a large response concerning an article the author had recently posted: "Hilarity ensued yesterday as Joe Hockey took aim at the Treasurer Wayne Swan and the banks." (Jack, 2010) What is interesting to note here is that the author of the blog also interacted within the blog 'comment' section of The Australian media web site in response to the responses of the article creating what appears to be a journalistic intraskeleton.
Not with-standing that blogs sites are able to create a social network enabling them to reach a wider receptive readership, it would appear that citizen journalism and main stream journalists require the process of "... six degrees of connection ..." (Rettberg, 2008) to realistically occur to extract external sources of news worthy items and in doing so enable the legitimization aspect of pajama reporting. Main stream reporters may not outwardly condone the process of blogging but they are increasingly utilising that particular avenue for newsworthy research and wider readership.
This paper has discussed the evolution of blogs with regard to personal blogging and the aspect of journalism blogs. An overall perspective would now view blogs as intrinsically acceptable in the view as legitimate, respectable journalistic information resource and news reporting.
Appendix
- In late 1999, several companies released software designed to automate Weblog publication. (Blood, 2004)
Blood, R. (2000)"Weblogs: A History and Perspective", Rebecca's Pocket. 07 September 2000. http://www.rebeccablood.net/essays/weblog_history.html Retrieved October 21st 2010. From Curtin University Topic Information: Web Communication 101: Communication and Collaboration Online Topic 2.1 Blogging
Blood, R (2004) "How Blogging Software Reshapes the Online Community". December 2004/Vol. 47, No.12. Communications of the ACM. Retrieved 22nd October 2010
Chen, G.M (2009) "Is blogging journalism?" March 28, 2009. http://savethemedia.com/2009/03/28/is-blogging-journalism/ Retrieved 22nd October 2010
Courier Mail.(2010) Hot Blogs. http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/opinion/blogs Retrieved and reviewed October 22, 2010 from Internet.
Curtin University Web Communications 101: Communication and Collaboration Online Module 2 introduction. (2010) "What is Web 2.0". Retrieved 22 October 2010
Flanagan, A. (2006) "Articles, Blogging: A Journal Need Not a Journalist Make" p 395-427
http://iplj.net/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/Article-BLOGGING-A-JOURNAL-NEED-NOT-A-JOURNALIST-MAKE.pdf Retrieved from Google Scholar
October 21, 2010
Guardian News and Media Ltd. (2010) "world's 50 most powerful blogs".
http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2008/mar/09/blogs Retrieved and reviewed October 21, 2010 from Internet.
Herbert, L. (2010) "Sex Blogs and Social Acceptance", Internet Studies 102. October 11, 2010. Retrieved 21st October 2010
Huffington Post. (2010) News media blog site http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ Retrieved and reviewed October 21, 2010 from Internet.
Law, N. "Leading digital adman hails old and new" News Limited, The Australian. October 11, 2010. theaustralian.com.au, http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/media/leading-digital-adman-hails-old-and-new/story-e6frg996-1225936838343 Retrieved October 22, 2010
Papandrea, MR (2007) Citizen Journalism and the Reporter's Privilege, Minnesota Law Review. p 516-590 Retrieved October 21, 2010 from Social Science Research Network data base. http://ssrn.com/abstract=932681
Rettberg, J. (2008), Blogs, Communities and Networks in Blogging. Polity Press; Cambridge. Retrieved October 22, 2010, from Curtin University of Technology Library E-Reserve.
Sydney Morning Herald (2010) National Blog Posts http://www.smh.com.au/blogs Retrieved and reviewed October 22, 2010 from Internet.
The Australian. (2010) blogs.theaustralian.
http://blogs.theaustralian.news.com.au/jacktheinsider/index.php/theaustralian/comments/hockey_thought_bubble_bursts_on_banks/ Retrieved and reviewed October 22, 2010 from Internet.
Please do not plagiarise my assignment, I worked hard writing and researching. You are however allowed to cite any section as long as you respectively give credit to my hard work.
Herbert, L. (2010) "Blogging" Assignment for Web Communications 101, Essay 2. SP3. Curtin University of Technology. October 24, 2010.
