A lot of people have been trying to figure out the difference between bloggers and journalist. There seems to be a feeling among some that bloggers are less important than journalist. Others feel journalists are behind the times…
Truth be told, the argument comparing bloggers and journalist isn’t even one we should be having. They are extremely different from each other in certain aspects, but extremely similar in others.
Each fulfills a different role. In reality, nothing stops a blogger from being a journalist and vice versa – it’s just a matter of semantics.
However, in the spirit of the argument, I think it prudent that we attempt to define and separate bloggers and journalists…
Defining a Blogger
In its most simple forms, the definition of a blogger must be someone that writes a blog. But that’s not really enough for us to continue. So how can we extrapolate that? We need to identify what a blog is and make some assumptions and generalities.
The Merriam Webster definition of blog:
The interesting part of the definition to keep in mind is the idea that a blog is personal. Also the definition doesn’t say anything about fact or bias. You could say that a blog does not need to be the full truth; instead it could be “reflections” and “comments”.
I don’t think it’s fair to define blogs and bloggers from the point of resources (some are extremely well financed ie. Mashable and TechCrunch) and topic (Huffingtonpost covers “news” but is still considered a blog).
So in the end the only true definition of a blogger is someone that writes a blog. What’s a blog? It’s an online journal that a writer can use to share his ideas and thoughts. Therefore, a blogger is someone that writes his ideas and thoughts online.
Defining a Journalist
If we began defining a blogger as someone that writes a blog, then we can state that a journalist is someone that writes for a magazine or newspaper.
The Merriam Webster definition of a journalist:
The actual dictionary definition of a journalist is interesting. It explains that someone is especially a journalist when they write about the news or for a news medium. The definition never states what medium, allowing us to assume it includes online as well. A predicament for our statement above that Huffingtonpost is a blog and the writers are bloggers.
Another interesting point is the second definition of journalist: “someone that keeps a journal”. This idea creates a huge overlap between the idea of a blogger and journalist, because of the fact that a blog was defined as a “online personal journal”.
One part of the definition stuck out to me; the fact that a journalist “aims for a mass audience”. At first I thought that this part of the definition might help make a clear distinction between the two, but it’s not the case.
For instance, consider the Christian Science Monitor versus the Huffingtonpost. We’ve already stated that Huffingtonpost is a blog and its writers as bloggers. We’ll compare against the Christian Science Monitor, magazine, with journalists as writers.
When we look at Compete data for the reach of each online publication, it’s clear that Huffingtonpost reaches more people and fulfills the idea of mass audience.
Finally, a point that is left out of the official definition of a journalist, but one that I think is extremely important, is the idea of factualness. Journalists are required to be unbiased and many must first cite 3 sources before publishing an article.
But in an effort to compete with bloggers, journalists and news sources have relaxed their guidelines. In essence removing one of the biggest differentiating factors between them and bloggers. For proof of the lax factual requirements and editing guidelines, one must simply look at sites such as “Regret the Error” or read the paper’s corrections section.
So What’s The Point?
Well what is the point? To me, when I see everything laid out the only distinction I see between journalist and blogger is that one is exclusively online. It brings us back to what I stated before, that the idea of a difference between journalist and blogger is merely one of semantics.
Bloggers can sometimes reach a bigger audience than journalists and sometimes journalists can offer more trusted content than bloggers. But neither is always the case.
What happens when a journalist writes online and offline? Are they a blogger online and journalist offline?
What’s the difference between a reporter, journalist, and blogger? Is it the medium that defines the syntax?
What About You?
When you leave a comment on this post or write a response on your blog or publication (you really should) will you consider yourself a blogger, a journalist, or just a citizen? Is it length, medium, editorial control, or just the idea that defines the difference?
Image credit: ekai
