I'm a journalism student constantly questioning whether my formal journalism studies are going to help me in a world where journalism increasingly happens on the street, is recorded by non-professionals, and defies many of the rules regulating fact gathering. Does the fact that I know AP style even matter? Does it give me more authority in story-telling/news reporting than the person who was there and actually witnessed an event? Do I earn extra credit points for knowing a writing style for news reporting exists when many news consumers wish there was more emotion, personal experience inserted in the story?
I don't know those answers, but I do know that writing about news in the first person is novel, violates a few of the fundamental tenents of journalism and is, strangely, wonderful. Blogging feels more honest than straight-forward, 3rd person journalism. It's inserting complexity and my subjectivity throughout the story rather than masking it with through my presentation of the facts. Too often, we forget that the way a story is portrayed significantly impacts the understanding/interpretation of the story. By insisting that journalists are objective and not a part of the story is a lie, one perpetuated far too long by journalism schools.
I'm young, have been a reporter for less months than fingers on one hand, yet I can think of at least 5 stories where my presence directly influenced how the people acted. Just knowing the press is around changes how you act, talk, and recall. People lie to me on a fairly frequent basis as a result of this sentence, "Hi, I'm Susan Goodwin from the Oregon Daily Emerald." Bam. Introduction. Commence lying, leaving out information.
Blogging can be a great way to talk about those aspects of a news story that an editor would normally remove, i.e. how you found out a piece of information, the background to your reporting, what you couldn't verify with the 3-4 sources, your opinion, etc.
At the same time, there's the danger of biasing yourself. If people read your news stories and also your blog, it would raise serious questions about your integrity as an unbiased observer/writer. I'm not sure if there's an answer to that issue, but it's one that seems to be getting larger as blogging establishes itself as a legitimate form of journalism.
I find it even more ironic that I'm blogging for a formal journalism class. Ha.
2 comments:
I think the major benefit of blogging is that it will expose a journalist's bias. As you say earlier in your post, objectivity is an illusion or a lie. It's impossible for anyone to be totally unbiased, so why not be transparent and honest about it? I think that's one of the major benefits of blogging.
However, I'm also afraid that people will only read bloggers whose opinions they agree with and will deepen the political rift in this country.
I think you've made some really interesting points about formal journalistic studies and I have to admit I'm beginning to question my own training as well. But what I think blogs might provide us in an age where, as you said, journalism happens on the streets is the personal connection.
What I mean by that is in a world full of flak, talking-heads and PR, we can finally tap directly into individuals opinions and thoughts. I guess we'll have to wait and see if the pros outweigh the cons....
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