November 17, 2004

Edit This

The Indianapolis Star recently had a pretty good story about blogs and the impact they're having on journalism. Here's the link.

James W. Brown, executive associate dean of the School of Journalism at IUPUI, is a recent convert to the medium. "There are bloggers who are physicians, lawyers, economists, who put a lot of effort into analyzing whatever is in the news," said Brown. "(Blogging) is another source of information for people."

The main criticism of blogging, however, is that there's no editing function in this medium. Blogs can easily degenerate into little more than rumor mills, or sites where one vents, but does not inform.

Not so fast, say blogging advocates. Bloggers now watch other bloggers and can correct factual errors instantly, either by posting better information on their own sites or simply by posting a comment at the offender's site. Conscientious bloggers can also make additions to an ongoing story as fresh information becomes available. The most scrupulous bloggers dutifully post links to their source data in an effort to back up whatever claims they're making.