On my computer, I have a list of sites that I visit on a regular basis: all of them are blogs. At the end of the day, with the light skimming that I do of major news sites, I feel closer to the way things are in the world.
It’s easy to say that journalism should be void of opinion. But in a world where media is constantly changing, opinion is slipping through the cracks. Blogs are more and more becoming people’s source of news.
Weblogs have grown rapidly in popularity and purpose in recent years, allowing people to voice their opinions for anyone to read. Many say the problem is that these blogs are compromising the integrity of journalism as blogs and news reporting have become one and the same, intertwining personal opinion with what should be straight, objective news.
This isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Blogs create a direction in journalism that is the way to go. A public forum has opened up for people to express themselves however they choose, and this gives readers the opportunity to explore topics that interest them in a public and in-depth way. As long as we proceed with caution, blogs are the way of the future for getting news, generating ideas and learning more.
Blogging allows for a unique kind of specialization. Everything is covered, and it’s usually covered by people who really know what they’re talking about. Where a news station can cover an event about trains, an expert on trains may blog about what the news means for the future of trains, how trains will be affected. This dialogue is often more educated and thoughtful, and as long as we’re smart about what we take as fact, we are better off.
It is our responsibility as readers to find what is truth. Objective news still exists and will continue to do so, as the strongest news sites are not going anywhere; they are just changing. And with the accessibility of the internet, it’s not particularly hard to find that information. Blogging just creates a different outlet.
According to Wired magazine, blogs are growing in popularity because people prefer to get news from sites with narrative voices, whether opinion is voiced or not. This makes sense. Even though I love reading strict news writing, a more casual approach is always welcomed. And if narrative prose encourages readership from people who aren’t normally reading the news, that’s important. We all benefit from knowing what’s going on in the world because it keeps us from making the same mistakes later, and it puts us in perspective among all the other people in the world.
Blogging gives people who never had a public voice the opportunity to scream at the top of their lungs. Middle Eastern women have a voice, 13-year-old girls who have a desire for fashion have a voice, professors outside of the classroom have a voice: there is no limit to who can make a blog. This expansion gives us an opportunity, if we decide to pursue it, to explore cultures and the minds of people we never would have considered in the first place, and that opportunity is priceless.
It’s hard to embrace change when for so long we have relied on objective news, but the way of newspapers clearly isn’t working anymore. Although blogs will never completely replace objective news, we shouldn’t be afraid to read them, explore them, enjoy them or get mad about them when it gives us so much more to think about.