Only 5% Of Bloggers Are Journalists 149
ObsessiveMathsFreak writes "A recent study has concluded that only 5% of bloggers have news as their primary topic. The study was conducted by the Pew Internet & American Life Project, and found that 37 percent of the surveyed blogs were reporting on their personal life, 11 percent on political matters, 7 percent on entertainment, and 6 percent on sports. There's also plenty of extra data in the report itself. From the article: 'About 34 percent see their blogging as a form of journalism; 65 percent disagreed. Just over a third of the bloggers said they often conduct journalistically appropriate tasks such as verifying facts and linking to source material.'"
Slashblog. (Score:3, Funny)
Welcome to slashdot.
Re:Slashblog. (Score:2, Funny)
Re:Slashblog. (Score:2)
Journalists don't do that (Score:2)
Re:Blogging is like owning a camera (Score:3, Insightful)
The blogosphere solves all this, and broadens the journalistic community that the average media-savvy person experiences in their life from maybe 5 key policy makers, 50 public faces, and 500 writers, to a pee
Blogs are like vanity press (Score:2, Insightful)
Statistics (Score:2, Interesting)
A wide-ranging study of the literate population of the world concluded that a mere 5 percent of them use news as their primary topic--a figure at odds with perceptions that literacy is remaking journalism.
Clearly literacy has no effect on journalism.
So what percentage of journalists are bloggers?
In other news... (Score:2)
So what percentage of journalists are bloggers?
I don't know about that, but in other news 95% of the bloggers' feelings just got hurt, and they are now whining about it on LiveJournal and MySpace.
Only? (Score:5, Insightful)
Only? Since when was it expected that any bloggers were journalists? The only blog I know of that even comes close to journalism is Slashdot, and we all know how that turned out...
Personally, I've always just seen it as a way to share my random shit with the rest of the world. And judging by all the other blogs I've ever read, I'm not alone in that.
These figures are absolutely not a surprise.
Re:Only? (Score:5, Insightful)
The question is ... (Score:4, Insightful)
If you include current events related to Linux, are you now a "journalist"?
What about current events regarding "pre-1662 hammared silver coins"? Such as new books being published or shows? Would that make you a "journalist" specialising in such coins?
Is someone who writes for a Linux magazine a "journalist"? Is someone who covers coin shows for a coin magazine a "journalist"?
Re:The question is ... (Score:2)
Comment removed (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:Founding Fathers Were Bloggers (minus the B) (Score:2)
Precis
Re:Only? (Score:2)
Then that 5% becomes... 0%.
Funny how that works out.
Some weblogs have good journalism (Score:3, Insightful)
It also depends on how you'd define journalism. There are a lot of people I know who have no journalism training, who I'd consider much better journalists than many of the paid front-line journalists for newspapers, TV and radio. There have been more than enough times when I've felt irritated that a journalist didn't actually
Re:Some weblogs have good journalism (Score:2)
Absolutely -- I agree with you on this point, but I don't think this should detract from the point that media companies aren't actually providing good jou
Comment removed (Score:5, Informative)
5%? That's a lot (Score:5, Informative)
news commentary versus journalism (Score:4, Interesting)
Calling anyone with a website who writes about something they saw on TV a journalist is kind of strange.
It's not just strange- it's wrong. My job title at one point was "Systems Engineer". I didn't have an engineering degree, and my father (who did) was severely irked, rightfully so; just because I came up with solutions involving computer systems did not make me an "engineer". This is the same kind of BS. "Journalist" is a professional title, and you can't slap it on a person simply because they yack about current events.
"Web loggers" point to FOX news and say "If THEY'RE journalists, I sure as hell am, especially since unlike them, I don't lie or distort things!" WRONG. FOX news staff are REPORTERS. If they went to school and studied journalism, THEN they are a journalist. Bill Oreilly is not a "journalist"; he's a cross between a commentator and a talk show host.
Go to Merriam-Webster and look up "journalism". Under "2B", you'll find "writing characterized by a direct presentation of facts or description of events without an attempt at interpretation". When anyone in the media talks about "journalism", that is the context they are referring to, not the OTHER definition of "someone who keeps a journal" (ie, diary.) Most of the "web loggers" who get up in a tizzy about this, compare themselves to professional journalists, which indicates they are using the 2B definition.
Most "web loggers" are PURELY in the business of interpreting news, events, or situations. That makes them news commentators ONLY!
Re:news commentary versus journalism (Score:1)
Re:news commentary versus journalism (Score:3, Funny)
The word you're looking for is propagandist. 8^)
Re:news commentary versus journalism (Score:2, Insightful)
Bullshit. If you were, in fact, engineering solutions with computers, it is reasonable
Re:news commentary versus journalism (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:news commentary versus journalism (Score:2)
Of course, the te
Re:news commentary versus journalism (Score:2)
Whether the ability to design a big Active Directory structure qualifies someone to call himself an engineer is probably debatable. Afterall, there are housewives who call themselves "domestic engineers", garbage men to call themselves "sanitation engineers", etc.
Re:news commentary versus journalism (Score:2)
A poet doesn't need a degree in poetry to be a poet. A writer doesn't need a degree in literature to be a writer. A painter doesn't need a degree in art to be a painter. And a journalist (who's simply another kind of writer) doesn't need a degree to be a journalist. Journalism isn't even remotely close to rocket science.
And a good thing, too, given the stat
Re:news commentary versus journalism (Score:2)
That's fine then, using a strict interpr
Re:news commentary versus journalism (Score:2)
Theres no such thing as an unbiased fact. Everything is interpreted. Misinterpretation can be as simple as omission. I thought the whole point of journalism was to be as subtle as possible with your slant, so that people will think its "unbiased". Theres no such thing as an unbiased interpretation.
Re:5%? That's a lot (Score:1)
Re:5%? That's a lot (Score:2)
You could say the same thing about anyone with a newspaper press who writes articles and hands their paper out on the subway to try and make a buck. Focusing on the manner of delivery rather than the form of the writing is a mistake.
That said, I'd think we would be much better off using the word "reporter" to mean someone who reports facts that they have collected and verified themselves from an objectiv
Most bloggers are (Score:2, Funny)
Re:Most bloggers are (Score:2)
Most bloggers are throwing messages in bottles into the sea, but their bottles don't have corks.
Re:Most bloggers are (Score:2)
Nor, for that matter, a message in most cases.
Is this the most useless poll ever? (Score:4, Funny)
Re:Is this the most useless poll ever? (Score:2)
Type Mismatch (Score:5, Insightful)
Slashdot summary - "About 34 percent see their blogging as a form of journalism"
Er, get it right.
The article said "only 5% of bloggers have news as their primary topic."
News is a form of journalism, but not all journalism is news.
Re:Type Mismatch (Score:1, Insightful)
Proper Role of Blogs in a Democracy (Score:4, Insightful)
Given such low journalistic integrity, we should view the typical blog as merely an opinion piece.
Still, a blog is useful in offering a unique perspective on a political issue; this perspective can spur actual journalists to re-think the issues on which they report. For example, conservative blogs gave a convincing analysis questioning the veracity of documents presented by Dan Rather in his report aired on "60 Minutes" [washingtonpost.com]. Soon afterwards, actual journalists examined the suspect documents in detail and concluded that their are likely fake. Rather eventually apologized for using unverified documents to slander a political candidate.
In short, blogs (like other forms of expression) play an important role in a democracy, but we should never use blogs as a final, reputable source on par with a story by actual journalists at "The Economist", the "Wall Street Journal", or the "New York Times". Conferring the status of journalist on the typical blogger is equivalent to saying that 4 years of undergraduate study leading to a journalism degree from Harvard University is a waste of time.
Re:Proper Role of Blogs in a Democracy (Score:1, Interesting)
No, they provided concrete proof the documents were created with Microsoft Word [littlegreenfootballs.com] and not a typewriter, therefore they are fake, since Microsoft Word did not exist in the 1970s.
Soon afterwards, actual journalists examined the suspect documents in detail and concluded that their are likely fake.
No, they are absolutely fake.
Rather eventually apologized fo
LGF: The Echo chamber. (Score:1)
Reconsider your source, since that site seems to be very closed minded enough that they wont accept criticism - try signing up there. Consider a source that *doesnt* seem to resemble an echo chamber.
saying that 4 years of undergraduate study leading to a journalism degree from Harvard University is a waste of time.
The connections you get in that place of exclusivity are enough to guarantee that you'll never view the population the same way you did when you entered.
Re:Proper Role of Blogs in a Democracy (Score:2, Insightful)
These documents were created with Microsoft Word, period. Note that I never claimed that Bush fulfilled his duty in the Natio
Comment removed (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Proper Role of Blogs in a Democracy (Score:2)
I feel at this point, compelled to add that ScuttleMonkey neglected to add what I felt was the most important part of the submission. Namely, the following line, which was to be the last.
Or word
Re:Proper Role of Blogs in a Democracy (Score:1)
Re:Proper Role of Blogs in a Democracy (Score:2)
The "typical blog", yes. The typical blog is a bunch of pictures of vacations and friends. The typical magazine is a bunch of gossip and advertisements.
You shouldn't treat all blogs the same. Just like you don't treat all m
Pedantics 101 .... (Score:4, Interesting)
From www.m-w.com
Main Entry: journalist
Pronunciation: -n&-list
Function: noun
1 a : a person engaged in journalism; especially : a writer or editor for a news medium b : a writer who aims at a mass audience
2 : a person who keeps a journal
The conclusion of the article is wrong (Score:2)
It's a bit ironic that the article says that only a third of blogg
Breaking News! (Score:2)
In other news... (Score:5, Interesting)
Only 5% of governors of California are film stars.
Only 5% of beer is alcohol.
Only 5% of Slashdot stories are dupes.
Only 5% of a woman's body is different from a man's.
Only 5% of English soccer fans are hooligans.
Sometimes, it's the exceptions that make things interesting
Re:In other news... (Score:2)
I take exception to that argument! (Score:2)
Well, I must say that the 5% of beer that's alcohol and the 5% of a woman's body that are different from a man's do interest me. However, let me state that I have absolutely no interest in the world leaders that are masseurs, or the governors of California that are film stars, or the English soccer fans that are hooligans.
Or in the Slashdot stories that are dupes, but are you sure those are exceptions? Some days dupes seem to be 95% of Slashdot.
Re:In other news... (Score:1)
Re:In other news... (Score:2)
Maybe you should choose your girlfriend more carefuly next time.
Re:In other news... (Score:2)
Hmm. Seems a little low - are you sure?
Anything is better than "real" journalists. (Score:2)
This sounds like covert free speech attack (Score:2)
Own the papers, buy the journalists... then you can afford to have journalistic freedom but not if people can report on things themselves.
Discredit blogs and you begin destroying most grass roots information in the country.
If freedom of speakers rights matte
Who said they were all journalists? (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Who said they were all journalists? (Score:3, Insightful)
The question I supose is - should Journalists be registered? Will we end up with a society where a select few have the right to freedom of expression. If someo
Maybe this isn't a bad thing . . . (Score:2)
Re:Maybe this isn't a bad thing . . . (Score:4, Insightful)
Sure we have to use a more critical eye with blogs than we do with say, the NYT,
Given recent experience with reporting by major media outlets, including especially the NYT (along with CBS and NBC), I'd say that one must use AT LEAST as much, if not more, of a critical eye on such major media outlets as one does on a blog by a "worker or enthusiastic hobbiest" in the relavant field.
The major media's track record is abysmal: Agenda-driven bias, lack of fact-checking and outright fabrication, failure of administrative mechanisms to keep employees conforming to standards of honesty and objectivity. Worst of all are their attempts to influence politics by distorted reporting - something that they occasionally even admit to, or even brag about.
More about the actual study (Score:2)
You can find the actual study at the Pew website. [pewinternet.org]
I'm pretty sure they're missing something (Score:1)
I'm pretty sure that if we could eliminate all the PORN of the servers we wouldn't use half the bandwidth available on the internet!
But then again what use could we make of so much bandwidth on our hands??
Hooray for the opposable thumbs!!
Re:I'm pretty sure they're missing something (Score:2)
The availability of porn on the 'net was a primary driving force behind its buildout and general-public adoption.
yeah, but (Score:1)
Re:yeah, but (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Re:Stop making blogging out to be what it isn't (Score:2)
Making a website is something new and revolutionary. You are just used to it, but it is still new to the average Joe.
Perception and being late to the party (Score:2)
yeah (Score:2)
The effect of literacy... (Score:2)
I am only 24 and college educated but writing seems to be natural for me. However I am absolutely amazed at how my family and friends that are a bit older than I am cannot write as well as I can. I definitely think there is a generational gap here. And chat rooms, blogs, e-mail, instant messengers, etc are not
Duh! (Score:3, Interesting)
Duh!!! Blogs started as a convenient way to put up personal web pages for those who didn't want to delve into the technical details. It's only the mass media that latched onto the few blogs that compete as news outlets, and created silly words like "blogosphere", and created the impression among certain ill-informed people that blogs were primarily news outlets.
In a related story, Only a small percent of word processing software is used by journalists. Film at eleven.
A question of semantics (Score:1, Interesting)
Both in terms of choice of topics and in terms of language, traditional journalists are limited by the agenda of their medium and the whim of their publisher. They can't simply pick a topic that they're interested in (say a political one) one day and then write ab
so how many? (Score:1)
most news outlets would disagree (Score:2)
While newspapers are not so skewed to personal life, I would say that this is not unlike the distribution of the average newspaper, which has a news section, a sports sections, and entertainment section, a business section, along with editorial.
The bulk of any newspaper is sports and other entertainment. Usually quite a bit of space is devoted to wh
From Dictionary.com... (Score:5, Informative)
n.
1. One whose occupation is journalism.
2. One who keeps a journal.
By definition, 100% of bloggers are journalists.
Also there's nothing in the definition relating a journalist to writing about news.
To what end? (Score:3, Insightful)
The only reason the "is a blogger a journalist" question ever comes up, is when people want to sue a blogger for things like not revealing sources, etc.
By claiming that a) protection of the freedom of the press only applies to some select bunch of bona fide journalists and that b) bloggers ain't them, they seek to basically harrass bloggers (and their sources) if a story carried by a blog is inconvenient.
Now, of course, this is riding rough shot with civil liberties. Anyone who publishes anything, to the extent that the content is of a journalistic nature, enjoys protection0s awarded to journalistic endeavour. It's the freedom of the press that's protected, not the freedom of a select bunch of bona fide accredited card-carying yale-educated fee-paying journalists.
That still doesn't stop, e.g. Apple, sueing blogs for dumb-ass reasons (and sometimes succeeding, though they really shouldn't in most cases).
But the question shouldn't be "are bloggers journalists" but "are we doing enough to ensure that all journalistic endeavour is protected, and that everyone can utilize their freedom of speech, and press, without fear for heavyhanded legal actions".
The answer to the first question is "to the extent their content is journalism, yes of course, duh, and by the by, that guy that draws Garfield isn't one either even if it is printed in a newspaper", the answer to the latter is "hell no".
Verification of Facts? (Score:2)
And nearly all of those who verify their facts do so by finding somebody else online who makes the same claim. Of course those other people don't verify THEIR facts.
If you read a typical blog - even a "journalistic" one - with anything less than a pillar of salt, you're a fool.
More on Verification (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:More on Verification (Score:2)
Asking somebody who is actually involved, or who is really in a position to know the answer would go a long way towards verifying something. But most people just quote other people who aren't authoritative in any way.
Somebody lies and says that Tommy Hilfiger made a racist statement on Oprah Winfrey. Then somebody else hears that lie and figures it's so good a story it's got to be repeated. And then there are thousands of idiots reposting th
Obvious Tag Surrenders (Score:1)
Subjective terms (Score:1)
Define "news".
Do you define it in terms of what the general public wants/needs to hear, or do you define it in terms of news in the personal sense? Arguably, my personal blog serves as a news outlet to those who know me - it's news about ME, and news that I choose to share with those who read my blog. Occasionally I'll pass on the story I read through a major news outlet, but mostly it's news about me that I want those close to me to know.
In other news... (Score:2)
Speaking as someone with a Journalism degree (Score:1)
Just over a third of the bloggers said they often conduct journalistically appropriate tasks such as verifying facts and linking to source material.
And since when is that any different from 50% of the so-called "professional" journalists? How many times do we read slanted news, misrepresented facts and out-and-out unverified stories? Most journalists coming out of school see themselves as activists, not reporters. That's almost as bad as caring what Tom Cruise has to say about postpartum depression.
I h
One step *below* an English degree, thank you. (Score:2)
Are you Rich ? (Score:1)
I just want to know two statistics,
1) What percentage of bloggers thought they were going to get discovered by some kind of talent agency & hit the big time ?
2) What percentage of bloggers thought they were going to get rich by showing advertisements ?
...And only 5% of journalists are credible. (Score:1, Insightful)
How many 'journalists' today are merely shills for corporations to advertise? Or followers of ideas they hope resound with their readership? Creators of artificial controversy, PR companies, government cowered mouthpieces, or simply blatant liars?
When you take money away from an endeavour, (mostly) only the pure of motive have an incentive to perform it.
Its happened in software. The most innovative and creative software is written by people who
Nice! (Score:3, Funny)
uhh (Score:1)
journalist - One who keeps a journal
"blog" - an online diary
diary - A daily record, especially a personal record of events, experiences, and observations; a journal.
Now doesnt that make anyone that has a "blog" have an online diary which is a synonym for an online journal? Therefor having a blog makes your a journalist. Otherwise it isn't a blog...
The Medium is the Messenger (Score:2)
11% political matters,
7% entertainment
6% sports
about 35% often verify facts and link to sources
I look at cable/"broadcast" news TV, newspapers and radio content, and I see no meaningful distinction. Except maybe blogs have swapped "personal life" and "entertainment", and "political matters" and "sports" ratios.
The medium and mode of publishing what you think about your world doesn't make or break you as a "journalist". Neither does any specific editing process, especially as editors merely
Since when is Politics not news? (Score:2)
Journalists (Score:2)
it's a dirty job, but... (Score:2, Funny)
1. Why we hate work so much.
2. Who we like and don't like, in Hollywood.
3. What we did over the weekend.
4. Where we went on vacation. (Hollywood?)
5. When will we have the vacation pictures posted? (I mean, it's been 2 DAYS, now!)
Hmm, let's see now... (Score:2)
Oh, yes. That's right. Keep track of your daily life and the events therein. Kind of like a diary, really. That way, if anything truly interesting happens in your life, it's recorded into history. Like say, if an 10.5 earthquake were to strike and wipe out the city you live in. Then you (or historians, for that matter) can look back on your life as it was before, what life was like trying to recover from the event, and how your life had changed afterwards.
Personally, I started a b
Lame & Obvious Attempt to Discredit (Score:2, Insightful)
The original blurb I heard was something like "Bloggers are mainly storytellers, not journalists." How ridiculous. What is "the news" if it is not storytelling? Sure, it has shiny features like talking heads, crawling news updates, and billions of dollars invested, but it's still just storytelling. FFS, they introduce features as "stories". There's "Today's To
Re:Considering... (Score:3, Insightful)
Has journalism ever been considered and presented as a respectable profession by anyone other than journalists?
Re:Considering... (Score:3, Interesting)
The question that immediately sprung to my mind: what percentage of journalists conduct journalistically appropriate tasks such as verifying facts and linking to source material?
Re:Considering...Wind Instruments. (Score:2)
I'm pretty sure even slashdotters will consider you a loser if all you do for a living is post to slashdot.
Zonk. QED.
Re:100% of Bloggers are Worthless Sacks of Shit (Score:1, Flamebait)
Re:Good! (Score:2)
It's a wonderful you live in - but it bears no relationship to the real world.