Bloggia loggia

AIX-EN-PROVENCE, France – At this point, no one can doubt the revolutionary effect that the Internet and in particular, blogs, have had on traditional news media. From the unceremonious damning of established journalist Dan Rather to the naming of “You” as Time magazine’s person of the year, Web content’s importance in the national consciousness is unquestionable. \nStill, there remains debate as to how much this online content fits into the erstwhile mass media scheme. Some blogs, particularly those run by major “old media” organizations like newspapers and magazines, choose to identify themselves as “the media.” Others wish to be separate, making a sort of “bloggia” separate from traditional news media. A few others, most journalists who have since forayed into blogging, have blurred the line.\nStarting with a few blogs during the party conventions of 2004, Internet journalists have steadily gained credibility to rival major news sources. However, with so many different conceptions of the medium, it’s hard to judge blogs on traditional media standards. The vast freedom of the medium, which makes it enticing to writers and readers, also makes blogging ethics a perplexing problem. \nFor example, what happens when bloggers try to become journalists? Web video of police brutality has led to serious investigations, yet here in France, a new “happy-slapping” law will punish purveyors of videos depicting violence. Such a law levies a large fine and jail time for someone who is not a professional journalist distributing images of violence. Certainly, the law is well-intentioned and fits with the rest of France’s nanny-state meddling, but as the line between journalists and bloggers blurs, it’s difficult to simply lump all online amateurs as “the bloggers” and lump traditional news media as “professionals.” Would the amateur bystander who witnessed the Rodney King beating have spent more time in jail than the police officers? \nAt the same time, simply handing the keys to “old media” establishment over to Internet content outlets is hard to do, as blogs can often take on a free-for-all, polemical atmosphere, with none of the editing oversight of, say, The New York Times. The demand of many bloggers for more access is impeded by its raucous attitude; one is unlikely to read “douche bag” in a typical broadsheet daily. You might read it in the Indiana Daily Student, but then again, it’s not your typical paper. Lumping legitimate reporting with tabloid sensationalism as “the bloggers” may be unfair of newspapers, as it diminishes the many important contributions of blogs to the public discourse, but it’s easy to understand the uneasiness.\nAt its core, the blogosphere is torn between two equally enticing goals: true legitimacy as journalists and commentators, and anti-establishment “fight-the-man” insurgency. Alas, you can’t claim to be a true citizen journalist while insulting enemies, nor can you demand the access and legal protection of journalism without having higher standards. If we demand accountability of the bloggia as strictly as we should demand it of our traditional media sources, what we call it won’t matter and legitimacy will be a no-brainer.