Do today’s news consumers prefer convenience and speed to accuracy of reporting? That’s just what they may be getting from the recent news trend: blogging.
The concept of a blog is a difficult one to grasp. Anyone can write a blog, and there are blogs on virtually any topic. Blogspot.com does not even have a comprehensive top ten list. Instead, they post recent top ten lists on a variety of subjects. Some featured this week are Top 10 TV Blogs, Top 10 Librarian Blogs, and 10 Blogs Every Lawyer Should Read.
Recently, blogs have even been used to cover breaking news stories. With the wealth of technology on hand for the average person, citizen journalism is a common phenomenon. Someone can conceivably take a picture of a local disaster on their camera phone, upload it to their blog with a quick description in much less time than a traditional newspaper would take to be alerted of the news and cover it.
The question is, does the public trust their news from just anyone?
Seth Bailey, 27, a Graduate student, from Convington, Ga., worries about the motivations behind news-based blogs. He feels that a blogger only caters to their own interests, while a traditional news sources is conscious of a wider audience.
“You’re only getting one side, not all the news,” said Bailey.
Bailey does, however, go online twice a day to read his news from existing publications. The Internet is easier for his lifestyle than a traditional newspaper, because the exact story he is searching for pops up quick, and he spends a lot of time on the computer.
“I’m more often in front of a computer screen than a newsstand,” said Bailey.
Hannah Wilson, 20, an art education major from Commerce, Ga., agrees that blogs are too opinionated for hard news. She commonly reads four newspapers a week, and only ventures online for celebrity gossip and the type of news she would not likely find in a daily, local publication.
“I like the idea of a team putting out my paper. Not just one person. That gives the paper different opinions, there’s protagonist and antagonists and positive and negatives in stories that are developed in newsrooms,” said Wilson.
Ashlee Berryhill, 20, a Business Administration/Management major from Cochran, Ga., has the opposite opinion. Berryhill reads The Red and Black daily, and her hometown newspaper, The Cochran Journal, on weekends when she goes home. She prefers a tangible newspaper because she can carry it with her all day long and read it when she likes.
Berryhill rarely turns to the online version of stories for her news.
“Only if there was something major going on, like if a friend said, ‘Oh yeah, have you heard about this?’,” Berryhill said.
However, she would consider a blog as a primary source of news. Berryhill likes the ability to comment on news stories, and likes more information than only what was presented that these posts offer.
Newspapers are rushing to compete with the upswing in blogging, and are hiring professional bloggers to their sites. Maybe this trend will make for a people’s wider acceptance of a blog as a credible news source.
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