I’ve just been browsing around a few blogs and I’ve noticed a couple things. Most of the blogs seem to be geared toward one interest group, like organic food lovers, punk music listeners, nerds who love the news, etc. I can’t make up my mind right now about if I like this or not. Part of me thinks it’s great because it allows all these people with similar interests to virtually get together around this blog and discuss matters that they’re interested in and probably experts on. On the other hand, these sources (blog writers) are obviously biased, then, and the readers only get the opinion they want to hear, so they may never get to hear the other side. Then again, below most all of these blogs is an area for comments where people get into heated debates about the topic, so I suppose that readers are getting to hear both sides of the story.
Another thing that caught my eye was that many bloggers tend to do their research by looking at leading newspapers’ articles and going from there, instead of doing research themselves. In this sense, a blogger is more like a columnist than a reporter, because he’s just reacting to the news, not reporting it.
Right now, I’m feeling that bloggers should not receive the same credentials as journalists for these couple reasons. Then again, I still have a lot of research to do. Next time I promise some actual research, not me just mouthing off.
