Two weeks ago I began a post wrapping up the Legislative session, somewhere along the way I lost heart. So today, after finally wrestling the computer away from my midterm taking husband, this is the post I ended up with instead. Hope it is worth your time:
It seems every week my beloved newspaper is shrinking. People from my generation don't get their news from print media. They rely on homepage headlines, political pundits, right/left leaning cable news, blogs and twitter. As a blogger it is flattering to see how many unique readers peruse our posts, but I sometimes find it alarming that these words often written in haste can be taken as truth. I pick a topic, do a little research, write up a quick post, proofread and edit, then publish. The entire process is full of bias. I report to no one. I have no real responsibility or accountability. I am the norm for bloggers. So where do blogs belong in the 'news' context? Can they really be considered a source for news? Are they purely the op ed page in a new form? Even if we view ourselves as such, do our readers? Blogs do allow discussion and publicity for items of concern not found other places. Local issues can especially be influenced by blogs. But I still flounder as I consider the above questions, and the role of blogging in my own life. Are we a service or disservice to our readers? Are we too relevant?
Monday, March 23, 2009
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
1 comments:
The short answer is YES. Bloggers are important. Yes blogging is biased. Yes readers should understand that. BUT...they should also know that newspapers are biased as well as every other media outlet. A reporter can claim to be non-biased but what he really means is he is fair. Biases are ingrained in the process. Reporters will catch on and cover angles that 'speak' to them and may miss subjects that another reporter covering the same story or event might focus on. Bias is rampant in what stories actually get printed in the newspaper. For example the Standard Examiner has a bias towards local news. They are up front and honest about that bias and often remind readers that their 'mission' is not to be a comprehensive news source especially when it comes to national news. But, they have bias in their local reporting as well. If readers recognize this then there is no problem. It makes sense for a newspaper to be 'biased' towards printing news that is relevant for the majority of their readers. As an example, in the sports page...naturally Weber State Sports takes precedent over other local colleges then the 'other top of Utah' college USU and then they cover Uof U or BYU. Might irritate some fans of those latter schools, but the bias is set in place for good reason and readers can be confident they 'know' what the biases are when approaching the coverage given by the newspaper. The harm comes when media is NOT up front with their biases. We know biases occur at every step including deciding which stories to cover, which reporter to send, which angle to investigate, which spot in the paper to put it, what day to run it, How much space to give it...etc. etc. etc. The same is true for all media outlets...but that doesn't make them less important or necessary. An example? This blog is where I first learned about Clay's law. I never once heard a story about in the print or electronic media. I am guessing there were stories done on it, but I happened to miss them. However, by reading the post here, I was able to think about the issue, do further research, then I was also not only able to answer my State Senator's question about what his constituents thought about it, but also advocate my position on it with friends and acquaintances. So YES blogs are important. We should become an educated audience when it comes to ALL types of media and use it for what it really is...a stepping stone for our own discovery.
Post a Comment