Are Bloggers Journalists? - Tan Shi Yuan

So, is a blogger a journalist? Certainly, some organizations have begun to legitimize Web logs as a valid grassroots form of journalism. In 2004, bloggers for the first time received press passes to cover the conventions during the Presidential elections. They have broken major news stories. Several prominent bloggers have become media pundits. And mainstream media outfits, including Business Week Online, are developing blogs to complement their traditional outlets. 

Why do more bloggers consider themselves journalists these days? Well for starters, it’s cool to be a journalist. That’s not the result of the study, that’s just a guess. It is clear that bloggers are gaining more and more influence. Audience size is growing for many, and collectively bloggers have a reach equal to or greater than traditional media across many categories. Bloggers and traditional outlets are both equipped with the ability to rapidly spread information across the Web at the same pace. In my opinion, I think that a blogger could be considered a journalist. Many bloggers write newsworthy topics and in this day and age when the lines are blurred between print and electronic media, does it really make a difference whether the header is an image from the George’s Wide World of Wacky Crap? I am not sure it does make a difference. At the most base premise, a journalist researches a topic and writes an article on what they have found. 

Now, I would like to share a person, her name is Shellee Hale. doesn't have a journalism degree. But the Washington state mother of five has four blogs and a passion for exposing security breaches in the online pornography business. So, when a New Jersey software company sued Hale for slander when she wrote about an alleged security breach at their company, the blogger came up with a unique defense: She's a journalist.

Shellee Hale

That's all for my review. Thanks~