Thursday, June 08, 2006
Still not a blogger....
I'm not ready to decide whether blogging is my future. I'm done with it for now, but I'll always be connected to technology and journalism, and I'm certain I'll encounter their latest intersection - blogging - again. Plus, its gurus are promising that blogs will be an imperative part of newsrooms to increasing degrees in years to come, and I'm not about to make myself unemployable.
Overall, I enjoy being a blogger. I connect with many of its virtuous features: it's interactive, it's instant, it's easy, it's inclusive and it's sometimes outstanding journalism. But it's also free, it's often sloppier than print and it's always infused with opinion. My other beefs: Most bloggers use secondary sources for their work. And I feel like some bloggers are trying to subvert print, which quite possibly employs many of the most successful online journalists. My opinion may be a product of old-fashioned defensiveness because I'm afraid that technology will make print, the field of my immediate and probably long-term future, obsolete. And it would be a harsh loss. Newspapers are our most respected informers. They are umbrellas, blankets and gifts, literally. They are our breakfast and often times bathroom companions, and they are the only reading my boyfriend and I do daily, except for e-mail. And, humor aside, they contain some of the most tongue-tying, important, juicy stories of our present and history. I believe news print is just too good to let go. And, did I mention that blogging pays even worse than a reporting job? Seriously, quality will severely pay when a working journalist can’t support him/herself.
Call me naïve, but I don’t believe the sky is falling. What we have is too worth preserving, and I know many people concur. I guess I’m making my working orders to become the best journalist I can be, knowing that to be outstanding, I must ride this technological wave. And I while I won't be resistant to blogging opportunities in the future, I'll likely do it because I'm working for a newspaper.
Overall, I enjoy being a blogger. I connect with many of its virtuous features: it's interactive, it's instant, it's easy, it's inclusive and it's sometimes outstanding journalism. But it's also free, it's often sloppier than print and it's always infused with opinion. My other beefs: Most bloggers use secondary sources for their work. And I feel like some bloggers are trying to subvert print, which quite possibly employs many of the most successful online journalists. My opinion may be a product of old-fashioned defensiveness because I'm afraid that technology will make print, the field of my immediate and probably long-term future, obsolete. And it would be a harsh loss. Newspapers are our most respected informers. They are umbrellas, blankets and gifts, literally. They are our breakfast and often times bathroom companions, and they are the only reading my boyfriend and I do daily, except for e-mail. And, humor aside, they contain some of the most tongue-tying, important, juicy stories of our present and history. I believe news print is just too good to let go. And, did I mention that blogging pays even worse than a reporting job? Seriously, quality will severely pay when a working journalist can’t support him/herself.
Call me naïve, but I don’t believe the sky is falling. What we have is too worth preserving, and I know many people concur. I guess I’m making my working orders to become the best journalist I can be, knowing that to be outstanding, I must ride this technological wave. And I while I won't be resistant to blogging opportunities in the future, I'll likely do it because I'm working for a newspaper.
# posted by Mia @ 2:32 PM 
