I read a story on the PRSA website that talked about journalists blurring the line between being analytical and opinionated when writing for blogs. A blog is much more challenging because it is first-person. When blogs are linked to newspapers, the journalist cannot write in the same voice that he would normally use on a blog. The line becomes blurred even more when print journalists are asked to do multi-media tasks such as write news stories, blog, do [objective] analysis, and provide TV/radio/online commentary. As a result, the newspaper Web sites are blending in more with blogs and altering their principles regarding objectivity and balance.
I think blogging is a good thing, but is it really good for newspapers - print media that is supposed to be objective and non-biased?
3 comments:
I agree I think that they should definitely be kept separte. Even though most news organizations are biased...writing for blogs on behalf of your organization seems to be a bit too much. I can't remember the company, but a few months ago one got in trouble for having "fake" employees posting about their experiences at the company...it may have been McDonalds. In the future there may need to be some kind of identification verification to make sure that these blog "personalities" actually exist.
If it's a good newspaper, they will have bloggers on the same subject, but opposite sides of the fence. That would saves their butts and keep them from being labeled as non-objective.
I also agree they should be kept separate. Newspapers are supposed to deliver the news to their subscribers not inflict their opinion on them. I feel it is okay for a newspaper to have the bloggers on the side but make sure boths sides of the argument are available.
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