A Blog on Blogs

I couldn't think of a more fitting topic for my first official blog than blogging itself, so here we go!

In the media and politics course I took last fall at Simpson, we devoted a week to discussing the current practice of blogging and its effects on traditional news media. At the time, I viewed the practice as one that was quite harmful to traditional news media. This opinion was strongly based on our attention to The Drudge Report, with specific regard to the Clinton-Lewinsky scandal.

Personally, I have issues with the manner in which Matt Drudge leaked pieces of information- which may or may not have been newsworthy at the time of publication-rather than giving the whole story. Because he was so anxious to share"breaking news," Drudge sacrificed the time necessary to do appropriate research and fact-checking before telling the world the president's dirty secrets.

Although I understand that Matt Drudge is just one man, which by no means constitutes him as a qualified representation of the blogosphere, I feel as though his tactics (especially with respect to the Clinton-Lewinsky scandal) are unethical as they undermine the very nature of quality news reporting. Bypassing such a fundamental element of news writing (fact-checking) completely discredits any information he publishes as so-called "news."

All opinions of Drudge aside, with time I have slowly (but surely) begun to accept the fact that blogging is here to stay. In an article I recently read from the December 2006 PRSA news publication, Jim Nail put it best by saying, "It's clear that blogs are having an effect not just on the content and sources of stories, but also on the style of journalism as well." So rather than fight the blog industry, those in mainstream media must work with bloggers in order to ensure that the American public receives the quality news reporting it deserves.