Citizen Journalism and Blogging Brands

Citizen Journalism

Citizen journalism has proved to be one of the most profound impacts of the development of digital media. Countries that experienced extreme government censorship of the press were suddenly gifted with a platform from which to share their opinions, perspectives, and original reporting. Joseph Liebling once wrote, "Freedom of the press is guaranteed only to those who own one." The internet has greatly reduced the costs of production and distribution of information--essentially, everyone has access to their own printing press.

This effect can be clearly seen in the Arab spring--a wave of revolutionary demonstrations and protests, egged on by the dissemination of information through digital media. Average citizens were able to document what was going on with their smart phones and share that with their friends or followers. This had a domino effect on the Arab nations and soon, countries like Tunisia, Libya, and Egypt were caught up in their own revolutions.

While this idea has been given the title "Citizen journalism," I don't know that what they were doing was really journalism at all. Often, these "citizen journalists" would be communicating impassioned, biased statements that were completely unverified. If journalism of verification is the standard for true journalism, then maybe it would be more appropriate to title them something other than journalists. However, these "citizen journalists" are not necessarily valued for their credibility, but rather for their authenticity.

Blogging Brands

The way that bloggers create revenue depends on the brand of the blog--corporate, professional, or independent. Prior to beginning my digital communications class, I was unaware that corporations even had blogs. So, I decided to check out a couple of my favorite clothing companies to see if they kept a blog. Anthropologie, J Crew, Free People all have their own blogs where they show you creative ways to use or wear their products (etymologie, J.Crew Blog, Bldg 25 respectively).

These blogs don't need any commercial advertisements because the corporations are already pulling in revenue from their products. They simply improve customer relations. However, some independent bloggers make a comfortable living off of their blogs through advertisements. For example, Green Wedding Shoes is a wedding blog run by a couple in the Los Angeles area. It is incredibly popular in Southern California--I have friends who will swear by it. They fund their blogging escapade through advertisers.

Branding is a really important aspect of blogging, because it determines the reader's approach to the blog as well as the blogger's.

Journalism vs. Blogging?

As someone who is not very privy to the internet, I had never visited a news blog prior to being assigned reading from Brian Carroll's Writing for Digital Media. Honestly, if I had been shown a news blog before reading the chapter on personal publishing, I might not have noticed that it wasn't a professional source. Blogs like The Politico, Pressthink, and Talking Points Memo look remarkably like notable sources of journalism to an untrained eye. However, Carroll makes a valid point that journalism and blogging need not be mutually exclusive.

One of the major critiques of blogging is that there is not enough objectivity or accountability in their reporting. Jonathan Klein, a former executive vice president of CBS news, claimed that "you couldn't have a starker contrast between the multiple layers of checks and balances [of professional journalists] and a guy sitting in his living room in his pajamas writing." While that concern is valid, what about the various pressures that professional news sources are under? Wouldn't a news corporation like CBS be under more pressure to sensationalize stories to receive high ratings and please their advertisers? That can affect the objectivity and accountability of reporting as well.

The fact is that these days, bloggers can be journalists, and journalists can be bloggers, by virtue of the fact that original reporting can be delivered both professionally and unprofessionally. The same goes for opinion and commentary--it is not limited to either sphere. Blogs can even be called a form of journalism if they deliver original reporting that has been verified, and if it is delivered with speed and transparency. Also, news blogs that fixate on opinion and commentary are inextricably linked to journalism because they rely on journalists to provide them with topics and issues to comment on. Blogging and Journalism, rather than being at odds with one another, have become interdependent.