However, as a consumer of media, I think there are some additional qualifications I’d like to see in a journalist blogger than what Gawker is looking for.

In my dream world, I’d love for blogging journalists, as well as journalists who work in other media, to adhere to the following:

1) Understand the difference between reporting and writing an editorial. Be upfront about which you are doing.
2) If what you’re giving me is in print and it’s supposed to be a news story, please use the standard news format. Give me the who, what, where, when, and why in the first paragraph and then tier down. In this way, I can glean the facts quickly or peruse the story at my leisure, depending on what my schedule allows.
3) Research your topic and get bona fide quotes. Don’t repeat something that’s going around the Internet blog-o-sphere without checking its credibility for yourself.
4) Always present a counter-source. Even if you’re reporting about your favorite subject — such as your pick of the presidential candidates — give me a taste of what the other side has to say. Present me with options in your story and let me draw my own conclusions.
5) Watch your language! I’m not referring here to off-color words. I’m talking about not stuffing a story with leading or biased adjectives. Yes, I know that if you work for CNN or Fox TV, you have to do something to catch my attention with your lead. You also have to keep me entertained when repeating the same story over and over again, every hour on the hour. However, as a consumer of journalism, I’m most impressed when you attempt to remain an objective reporter. Yes, I am aware that there is not such thing as perfect objectivity. Even the choice an editor makes about which stories to report is somewhat subjective. Pleases try, however.

Now, if you’re editorializing and you are honest about the fact that you are editorializing, have at it!!

Any expert in any field who has a blog is probably superior to a journalist at providing accurate information on their topic of expertise. Sure they have their own biases but so do journalists. The days of non-bias journalists are long gone (did they ever truly exist?).

http://www.erucall.com/archives/96

To quote many of the conversation I engage with consumers and bloggers.. and I share glimpse of it.

below…
[...]I think the public is just tied of being mislead by the circular media. That’s why channels like ‘Current TV’s are popular. Folks just want to hear/read/see news from a different perspective. For example, I can tell that MSNBC tells news from a ‘liberal’ point of view while FOX tells news from a conservative point of view. That’s not how I want my news delivered…[...}

or
[...]These are all why I select my news very carefully now. I want the type of news I need to feel my soul. Because if you don’t steer away from the junk from corporations, then before you know it, you start believing that where you come from is stone-age[...]

We report, you decide…. Right?

A story is a story is a story. It doesn’t matter if you publish it on newsprint or Wordpress.

I’m not a big fan of Gawker, but at least he is trying to steer his site in the right direction. Nick Denton wants his writers to actually REPORT some stories. You know, call people on the phone or ask a question. Or how about this… maybe double check a press release. Which the polar opposite of what most blogs do these days.

One post got it right. “…one of a handful of sites that incorporate blogging with good, fact-based journalism.”

Facts have never gotten in the way of a blog.

http://editorialiste.blogspot.com/2007/11/washington-post-swings-at-citizen.html

Windows vs. Linux ist wie Bloggen vs. Journalismus ein Glaubenskrieg. Die geradezu fanatisch vorgetragenen "Argumente" der jeweiligen Anhänger wirkt auf den Außenstehenden mittlerweile ermüdend. Könnte es sich die…

After all, most major newspapers and periodicals offer online content which duplicates or, in some cases, supplements their print material. Online content is, by its nature, fresher, faster and attuned to the moment. The CMS that powers these periodicals already covers most of the functionality built into blogging platforms.

I can only think of three main reasons why blogs would be used for journalism (or by journalists):

(1) Some, perhaps many blog readers don’t read newspapers or other periodicals, so this is a way to expand the journalist’s audience.

(2) The blog offers the journalist an opportunity to build a distinct identity.

(3) The blog allows the journalist to have editorial control.

My question: do these three reasons fly in the face of the traditional role of the journalist?

Great musings on the (r)evolution of a big player in the Journalism 2.0 world. Gawker.com must adapt or die, as the saying goes, in a brave, new world full of change and constantly moving targets. I cross-posted on your piece at my blog for the Innovators Network in hopes that some of my readership will visit your sight for more of your opinions and thoughts on 2.0.

Best wishes for the holidays,

Anthony Kuhn
Innovators Network

It’s like you’re essentially asking, “Can Websites Do Journalism?”

Oh yeah. By your definition of journalism, there’s not much journalism being done these days. Television news is almost all painfully derivative and with slashed budgets and staff fewer and fewer reporters have the time or the energy to answer all the questions.

Even 30 years or so ago when I was an active journalist, most of the work involved was scut work — almost fill-in-the blanks sort of stories about everything from crime (police reports) to city council meetings.

Mark

Some might argue that Denton’s repositioning of Gawker is news because it’s a gossip blog trying to do serious journalism. Guess what? Gossip IS serious to TMZ, which has built a lucrative franchise by applying traditional police reporting techniques to entertainment news. Same goes for The Smoking Gun.

And the blogger/journalist debate may continue not because some don’t see blogs as platforms to evolve journalism–rather that there are many journalists (and those who wax philosophically about journalism) who want every eek and sputter on a self-publishing cms to be called journalism. Thing is, a lot of it isn’t.

This entry makes me think of an opportunity that a community college or larger university could take advantage of. That being the obvious need for a class on journalistic blogging. It could be a crash course in journalistic integrity and teach the basics of story structure and fact gathering. It’s just an idea, but it’s something I might consider taking as a night class.