Essay Cm265 – Is the Blogosphere the future of Journalism?

Is the Blogosphere the future of Journalism?

This essay will be based on the Blogosphere and its place in Journalism. The writer will investigate the effects of blogging on the Media and focus on the major differences between the Blogosphere and traditional Media Organisations with relation to the law and ethics.

The Blogosphere has grown enormously in recent years with the both the public and professional journalists voicing their opinions for the world to read.  Blogging has become so popular due to its ease and availability and a person must merely have an e-mail address to start a blog and share their ideas with anyone willing to read them. While blogging originally grew from personal websites in the 1990’s, websites such as Blogspot and WordPress have given the public the chance to set up a blog at no cost and very little hassle. With all these opinions on subjects so widely available, one must then consider the idea, is there still a need for professional journalists in this day in age?

The worldwide phenomenon of the Blogosphere has most certainly hit our shores in recent years which can be shown by the Annual Irish Blog Awards which praises online amateur journalists for their various works. The awards commend these bloggers under a range of categories including Best Irish Language Blog, Best News/Current Affair Blog and Best Arts and Culture Blog. While few of these bloggers are trained professionals, it seems that they are indeed leaving their mark on the Media and truly giving the press a run for their money. The blog, Irish Election focuses on the economic and political stories in Ireland, such as the banking crisis, NAMA and political polls. The latest post to date while writing this essay, discusses the Red C Poll conducted by The Sunday Business Post, showing the latest support for the political parties in Ireland. The post was dated May 1^st 2010, (Poulet, 2010) a day before the story hit The Irish Times. This shows that access to the Internet and therefore the access to the blogs means that stories can be covered online before traditional forms of Media such as newspapers. Bloggers can write when it suits them, without the worry of deadlines and printing and the news, therefore, reaches the reader more rapidly.  In a world where the public live in the rushed day  to day business of the rat race, they want to access news when it suits them, as well as being kept up-to-date with the latest reports as they happen. The Internet and the blogosphere grants this to the public, unlike the traditional media in forms of newspapers and televised news bulletins which work under deadlines and do not always have the ability to deliver the latest news to the public as it happens.

Bloggers, however, are not always amateur journalists. Some professional writers, especially freelance, keep a blog discussing the latest news as they may then receive a following of readers who would not usually see their work in various publications. An example of this is Ken Foxe, a writer with the Tribune who keeps a blog to cover stories which may otherwise go unnoticed in the Media. Foxe wrote about the case of Terence Wheelock in his blog, “Tales from Talbot Towers”. The case deals with the extensive injuries sustained by Wheelock while in Garda custody at Store Street Garda Station. This story was published in more depth by Foxe in his Blog than in articles in the Tribune due to the graphic and explicit photos that went with it. The photos show the cuts and bruises obtained by Wheelock during his time in Store Street Garda Station and it is understandable that these photos could not be published in a daily newspaper. Blogging offers the public a more in depth analysis on subjects which may otherwise not be published, such as the story on Terence Wheelock which gives rise to the idea that the Blogosphere serves the public in a way traditional media establishments cannot.

The Defamation Act was passed in Ireland in 2009 and while it is believed that it only affects long-established media organisations, this is not the case. The Defamation Act deals with all published pieces of work, including Blogging. This means that bloggers must familiarise themselves with the Act so they do not breach any codes of copyright or cause any upset in the process of writing their blog. While the effects of the Defamation Act with regards to blogging has yet to be seen here in Ireland, there have been several cases of Defamation and the Blogosphere around the world, the most famous case to date being that of Indian Television station NDTV versus amateur news blogger Chetanya Kunte after coverage of the Mumbai attacks. Kunte accused the station of “appalling” and “shoddy” journalism and felt that the report put the lives of the Mumbai attack victims in danger. As a result of his blog which was deemed defamatory, Kunte was obliged to publicly publish an apology and withdraw the post. This case of defamation with regards to the blogosphere forces us to ask the question, should bloggers follow the same rules and code of conduct as their professional counterpart journalists to avoid libel cases? The obvious answer would be to say that it should be a necessity for bloggers to familiarise themselves with the Defamation Act to avoid causing upset in the process of writing their blog, however, does this contradict Bunreacht na hÉireann 1937, which states that the public possess the right “to express freely their convictions and opinions.” (Bunreact na hÉireann, 1937:40.6.1) It seems that while blogging does give the public the chance to voice their opinions, it is the duty and responsibility of the individual writing the blog to act in a way which will not cause harm or distress to any person while writing their blog. If this is done in a correct manner, the blogosphere could in fact be the future of Journalism, taking into account that blogs are easily accesisible, can be effortlessly kept up to date and give a wide range of outlooks on a topic.

While several traditional media organisations such as newspapers seem to be up in arms and closing their doors for good, one may believe that this is the death of Journalism. It may, however, just be the beginning of the new era of Journalism. The internet culture has become a huge part of the world we know today and has taken over several traditional means of doing things. Television shows and movies can now be watched on the Internet, shopping can be bought via the Internet and now, people can read the latest news online, on a blog rather than buying a newspaper. While Net culture has grown hugely in recent years, it is up to the media to keep up to date with the latest technological advances in order to keep its readers up to date with the latest news so that they do not turn to other media sources such as blogs. This has been done with online news sources owned by the media conglomerates such as The Irish Times and Raidió Teilifís Éireann. They are updated frequently and are often the first port of call for the public to keep on top of current news stories. The reason for this is the long established credibility that goes with these companies as the public know they can trust the information that they are given here. It may take a long stretch of time for bloggers to acquire this state of credibility and integrity so that the public will log on directly to read their articles. The use of hyperlinks and hypertext in the articles which can be found on sites such as RTÉ and The Irish Times direct the reader to articles relating to the story as a means of further reading for the user to obtain background information, while usually staying within the domain of that website. This cannot always be done on blogs, if a certain story has not previously been covered by the writer. This does not give the reader as much information as possible and often takes away from the story.

It seems that while there are both pros and cons to do with blogs and the traditional media, the long established media organisations do have more credibility than its amateur counterparts. Until bloggers can gain this integrity, conventional media organisations will still have the upper hand in reporting stories. The media can sleep safe in the fact that while journalism is changing at a rapid pace, by keeping up to date with these technological advances, the blogosphere should not threaten the future of journalism.

Bibliography

Blogger News [Avavilable from: http://www.bloggernews.net/119586]

Date Accessed: 4 May 2010

Bunreact na hÉireann. [Available from: http://www.taoiseach.gov.ie/upload/static/256.htm]

Date Accessed: 5 May 2010

Foxe, K. Tales from Talblt Towers. [Available from: www.kenfoxe.com]

Date Accessed: 5 May 2010

Poulet, M. Irish Election. [Available from: www.irishelection.com]

Date Accessed: 5 May 2010

Irish Blog Awards. [Available from: http://awards.ie/blogawards/]

Date Accessed: 5 May 2010

Irish Statute Book. [Available from: http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/2009/en/act/pub/0031/index.html]

Date Accessed: 7 May 2010