Blog to the Future

Blogging: a wild dream to the founding fathers? Though we can't take a vote from a bunch of dead old white guys, undoubtedly they'd be intrigued by the growing phenomenon known as blogging. Indeed, as some would argue (in the present century), blogging is a shot in the arm to democracy. And if journalism was good enough to be given First Amendment protection in the U.S. Constitution, then what is the relevance of blogging to a free press today? This basic question and others are explored in a conference paper by Patrick Baltatzis called "Is Blogging Innovating Journalism?"

To explain it to the dead old white guys, blogging is the activity of communicating thoughts and ideas in a public forum located on the World Wide Web (we won't explain that one). Such a forum is called a blog, or weblog, which is an online version of an open journal, onto which anyone can post a thought, comment or question on a shared topic of interest. A blog is the equivalent of a running dialog or conversation, offering timely and up-to-date, if not cutting-edge, information on anything from a presidential campaign to the latest cell phone technology or collector model cars. With content driven by reader interest and information exchange, content-accurate blogs often break news that traditional journalism overlooks or misses entirely. And this on nearly any subject imaginable, large or small. It's like having hundreds, if not thousands, of eyes simultaneously zeroing in on a topic versus those of one one reporter or editor. This is an unprecedented, thoroughly breakthrough development in information distribution. And thus in journalism as well.

Ironically, this new, dynamic form of news and information gathering and sharing comes as U.S. newspapers are beset by a seemingly unstoppable hemorrhage in circulation. Whereas blogging has taken the Internet community by storm. According to Baltatzis, there were 30 million blogs worldwide at the time his paper was presented. In the wave of monumental, technologically-innovative shifts in media communication, traditional print journalism, by volume, is rapidly losing competitive ground. But reader responsiveness to the less rigid, lively engagement of blogs has been tremendous. As Baltatzis quotes Josh Quittner, editor-in-chief of Business 2.0 magazine, today a publication's "worst competitor is not another magazine" but "readers' attention and time." To that end, blogs fit the bill.

This is because blogs offer an immediate, compelling, easy-to-use form of interactive communication on topics of individual, interest-driven relevance to readers. As online published dialog, Joe and Mary public can see their opinions, perspectives and ideas weighed in, side by side, with experts -- not only within the U.S. but across the world. According to Baltatzis, this creates in readers a sense of community and ownership of the information-sharing process.

Moreover, because blogs can be produced with free software and distributed low-cost via the Internet, they offer a new, highly accessible means for traditional journalism to expand its readership base. The result is a virtually limitless flourishing and free exchange of ideas, a forum of information exchange whose community voice will only expand as more people gain access to the Internet across the globe. In this way, blogs very much embody the spirit of democracy.

Five principle concepts discussed by Baltatzis include the following:

1) Blogs can "create new value," "empower readers" and "create deeper relationships" with them than traditional news formats and players alone;
2) Blogs need not, and should not, necessarily replace traditional journalism;
3) Blogs gain value in the marketplace based on their unique appeal to the public and/or their credibility and quality of content;
4) Blogs break down the wall between content producers and consumers;
5) Blogs "are positive elements in media that keep journalism honest" (according to Quittner).

Based on interviews by Baltatzis with bloggers in the news industry, a growing number of journalists see blogging as an innovation that breathes new dynamism into the lifeblood of a free society. Yet at the same time, there are concerns that blogs threaten to diminish expectations of content quality to the level that ultimately degrades hard news itself. But this need not necessarily preclude a news organization (or citizen journalist) from creating a blog of their own. Blogs of no significant consequence proliferate on the Internet. With the virtually limitless publishing space of the 'net, that fact is not likely to change. But neither does it stop other blogs from staking a legitimate place for themselves in the wider community.

Bottom line, blogs that adhere to the fundamental standards and ethics of traditional journalism -- accuracy, fairness, balance, clarity, solid writing -- are shaping up to be those with the strongest reputations for credibility and reliability. Conversely, a blog that aims for content higher than mere gossip or fleeting hype, but which is considered by readers to be unreliable, is likely to lose, not attract, readership. Blog readers by nature tend to be more discriminating in their blog selections, drawn as they are to topics with which they are often already highly knowledgeable. Therefore a blog that lacks credibility is likely to be one that readers quickly abandon in search of better ones that merit their time and attention.

So in a blogosphere of billions of readers -- where there is room for everyone with Internet access -- just as with other matters of importance to the public, the more trusted, compelling sources of information tend to distinguish themselves and draw a larger and loyal readership. That in itself is a metaphor for a healthy democracy: a diverse and often messy enterprise, but ultimately reflective of a bell-curve measure of human activity and consciousness over time.

Journalism, then, that incorporates content-accurate, timely and compelling blogs is journalism that is responsive to the changing needs and expectations of the public. Blogs also widen the spectrum of key players and voices involved in any subject discussion. But overall the best kind of blogging revitalizes the democratic impulse of the public to engage in open conversation on topics that hold often passionate meaning for them. In this way, blogging is definitely innovating journalism.

According to Baltatzis, blogging can also provide a healthy boost to news publication revenues by drawing in and broadening readership. But blogging can benefit the larger economy as well, he notes. For the very nature of the free exchange of ideas tends to drive, accelerate and support innovation of goods and services and the policies that serve them. Blogging can therefore be seen as a reinforcing mechanism in a critical loop of democracy.

As one of the most powerful tools a journalist can have in his or her arsenal, then, blogs can be fertile resources of new ideas and specialized information, freely and vitally exchanged. This is an enlivening of the democratic process. Whether these ideas cover the areas of politics, business, the economy, science and medicine, technology, public policy, the natural environment, or the arts and culture, content-reliable blogs are becoming an integral part of a newly thriving public discourse. No astute reporter today would dare not appreciate the real and potential impact of blogging. And those who jump in with stellar blogs of their own stand to help nurture a kind of democracy those old dead white guys could have only dreamed of.

- Misako M.