Should journalists, or moreso those who are working for mainstream media, blog?
There is an emerging discussion in the newsroom about this. I still haven't formed an opinion/stand on the matter. I'm browsing some internet articles on the subject. But here are some arguments that have come up.
My immediate, uninformed reaction or perception is that it is a form of censorhip, if journalists are restricted in writing about their opinions on certain matters.
But those on the other side see it as avoiding the tendency of being branded as "biased." Journalists should remain "objective," they say. Because what you say, what you think, may be perceived as that of the media organization you are working for.
"What if," they ask, "someone conducts a survey of reporters who are pro- or anti- this?"
"But blogs are personal," argues a fellow blogger-reporter.
Meaning, those opinions expressed in the blogs are the individual's. "And besides," I buttress her argument "we don't carry our biases into our news reports."
There's a system of checks and balance in the newsroom that makes it hard for personal opinions to come through. And we avoid it, like a plague, to get our biases in the way of our reporting.
Stated another way, being a blogger and a journalist are roles that we can shift to and from. When I blog, it is clear that I'm writing about personal things, writing personal opinions. As a journalist, biases go out the window.
"But you are personalities," a colleague argues. "How can you make that distinction?"
It's not us who should make it, it should be those who read us.
It's interesting really. Things to ponder on. Over coffee and cigarettes.
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For purposes of enriching the debate, here are some articles on the matter which you may read:
1. Online Journalism Review (Journalists debate closure of another blog): http://www.ojr.org/ojr/glaser/1051593413.php
2. Editor&Publisher (Hartford Paper Tells Employee to Kill Blog) http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1872356
3. Online Journalism Review (Journos and Bloggers: Can Both Survive?)
http://ojr.org/ojr/workplace/1100245630.php
1 comment:
Yes! Especially in your case, we don't always hear your opinions on various issues. Limited to straight news yung anggulong naririnig namin.
Columnists are also journalists. And heck, people read them precisely because of their opinions.
Lahat naman tayo may biases. To try to stay neutral is one thing. But to say that one IS neutral, that's a different story.
I just find it strange that some people should think you refrain from practicing what is well-within journalistic ethics.
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