Blogs and Journalism need each other

By J.D. Lasica

The author of this article takes a very postive stance towards web logs, and very negative towards regular journalism. But internationally, what is most useful to provide the general public with ‘fairness, accuracy and truth’?

            The problem with blogging is that it generally involves a good understandin gof the english language. When reading weblogs, but especially when writing, uploading and maintaining. Of course there are international blogsites, but the circulation of stories takes longer as people have to take time out to translate them. In that, international bloggers have more interactivity than their American counterparts – but it also gives more room for faults.

Truth is, anything found on the internet can be far more easily forged than a newspaper or videotape. While a blog on the net is (usually) the product of one individual, a newspaper story is the combined effort of a team of people; the reporting journalist, the writer, the editor, the owner of the paper, the printer, etc. A newspaper, however, also has economic aspects, and commercial interests, or political standpoints that a story must agree with. And so, hence, they balance out. A story published on a weblog may not be entirely faultless, and language problems will influence connotation and level of truth, but a newspaper can make no more claims to the truth than a weblog. A newspaper depends on sources; a good web log ís a source in its own.

Moving Toward Participatory Journalism

Dan Gillmore

In what ways the profession of journalism can learn from blogging, Gillmore makes clear – but how would this occur?

Dan Gillmore offers many answers to this question himself – but he also states that the established order of journalism is unwilling to alter their methods of information gathering and writing. The lack of interaction that is so defining to media today is part of a system that won’t be changed overnight. The circumstances surrounding a slow diffusion of blogs into journalism will take time to prepare.

Blogs will have to prove their use time after time again. Young journalists can use a web log as a reference pad and will eventually absorb blogs into their daily lives and work. Only then will blogs be accepted as a genuine useful medium.

On Logos and Grassroots: the anti-globalisation movement between morals, economics and politics

Luuk van Middelaar

The manner at which anti-globalists communicate, through web logs, is very useful when it comes to global issues (or anti-global issues hehe). But how about small local battles, national arguments, consequences and implications?