September 15, 2003

Are Blogs Journalism? One Reporter's Answer

Today's Rocky Mountain News has a good report on blogging in Colorado, and the story manages to mention a lot of Colorado blogs rather than the usual big-name blogs. The story also considers the question of whether weblogs are journalism, and comes down firmly on the side of "maybe."

David Slayden, associate professor of journalism and mass communications at the University of Colorado comments on blogging:

"It's not pretending to be objective coverage of issues. I think everybody knows that going in. Maybe they're columnists. When we have a very large quotient of news filtered through PR agencies, what is news, anyway?

"The value of blogging, for journalists, is to look at this and say, 'Why?' It's very hip to say, 'We don't trust the mainstream media,' especially the 18- to 24-year olds. It's very interesting to see what they're interested in, what's their traction, what do people respond to, not as competition for news but an insight into the audience."