Are Bloggers Journalists?
“A California judge issued a preliminary ruling on Mar. 3 that three bloggers who published leaked information about an unreleased Apple product must divulge their confidential sources. If the ruling holds, it will set a precedent certain to reverberate through the blogosphere because this means under the law bloggers aren’t considered journalists.”
This got me into thinking about the many popular blogs in the Caribbean, some of which present themselves as alternatives to the print media. Is it accurate for these bloggers to be classified as journalists, and is the law obligated to treat them as such?
Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary describes a Journalist as “the conductor of a public journal, or one whose business it to write for a public journal; an editorial or other professional writer for a periodical”. It also defines a Journalist as “one who keeps a journal or diary”.
There can be no doubt that a site such as Barbados Underground is a public journal, from which the word journalism comes. Some of the meanings of the word journal are:-
1. A daily record, as of occurrences, experiences, or observations:
2. A newspaper, esp. a daily one.
3. A periodical or magazine, esp. one published for a special group, learned society, or profession
4. A record, usually daily, of the proceedings and transactions of a legislative body, an organization, etc.
Barbados Underground is not a daily publication, but it is a periodical record of occurrences, experiences and observations.
The major difference is that Barbados Underground is a non-profit venture, but the dictionary definition never mentions profit.
As I write this very post, for my blog, I find my mind wandering across endless plains of wonder. “What am I actually doing?” I ask myself. “Am I writing an article, am I writing a blog or is there no distinction between the two?” I am furthermore forced to create various scenarios in my head, each leading to a host of new questions. “Should I hold myself up to the same quality standards I would expect from my newspaper?” and “If an anonymous source wanted me to publish information, would I be able to protect their identity under the law?”
These questions remain unanswered. As I pondered the nature of my own scripting, I noticed a change in the composition of this post. I cannot deny the fact that there is a difference in posture when you write, dependent upon your own interpretation of who you are. The way you would write in your personal journal defers from the way you would write an article intended for the public. Furthermore, your style of writing changes depending on whether or not you perceive yourself as a journalist, or just some guy with his own website. The truth is that we project what we are feeling when we write, and some of us don’t even know for sure what we are, or how we are perceived.
Most of the leading newspapers in the Caribbean have an online presence. (see list here) This means that there articles are published both physically and electronically. If a blog is not considered journalism, how come the internet version of a newspaper’s article is considered journalism? I put it to you that only major difference is that the writer of the newspaper articles believes with every fiber in his body that he is a journalist. Admittedly, he has the public that validate that belief, but in the absence of a clear, lawful definition, I propose that to be the attitude bloggers must adopt. We define who or what we are. If a few brave did not decide to define themselves as human beings, black people would still be slaves. Think about that.
Mario Herbert – Administrator of GoWEB Caribbean
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