What is Journalism? Conflicts Between Bloggers and Mainstream Media

by Ed Smith

Should anyone who shows up at the statehouse with a laptop or a cell phone and asks for a press credential receive one? It's a hotly debated topic in capitols around the country, a debate not likely to end soon. 

"The Bigger Tent," an excellent article by Ann Cooper in the Columbia Journalism Review, succinctly lays out the argument between members of the mainstream media and the bloggers and other new journalists who are challenging their franchise on the news.  The article is subtitled, "Forget Who is a journalist; the important question is, What is journalism?"

But after more than 30 years as a newspaperman, it's hard not to laugh at the spectacle of editors and reporters arguing that there should be rules about who gets to be called a journalist. I've known a lot of hard-bitten editors at the half-dozen papers where I've worked, and every one of them would have flown into a rage if someone outside their newsroom tried to lay down rules about who they could or could not hire based on a standard of who was a "real" journalist. That's why journalism is a craft, not a profession. There is no licensing or board testing required for journalists, and that's just the way reporters and editors want it.

The practical outcome is that anyone can be a journalist. As part of a story we are researching for State Legislatures magazine, we've found nearly 60 percent of statehouse reporters for print outlets also blog, and a larger percentage say blogs have increased the amount of information about their legislature available to readers. Of the bloggers we've surveyed, not surprisingly, 80 to 90 percent believe blogs have increased the amount and quality of information available about their legislatures. So while the debates rages on, at least those involved in covering legislatures seem to agree that blogs have added to the information citizens have available to assess the work of their elected officials. Accuracy and ethics are an issue, but they are an issue in the newsrooms of major papers as well as for freelance bloggers.

It's clear that there is a hard-core group of reporters and editors who will never accept this new breed of journalist. But I think I do know when the argument will be settled or, more accurately, become irrelevant. The young reporters I know pay little attention to this argument. They're blogging and twittering with one hand and writing for print with the other. Once the current generations of traditional reporters and editors have moved on, this argument will end up in the recycling bin like yesterday's newspaper.

Ed Smith is managing editor of State Legislatures magazine.  No, the photo is not Ed--but in a past life it could have been.  See "More on Bloggers Press Credentials" for links to other postings on this topic.

Comments

[Erik Arneson]

Here is a link to the CJR article (the one in the post above seems to be broken):
http://www.cjr.org/essay/the_bigger_tent_1.php

[Karl Kurtz]

The link in the original post has been fixed. Thanks for catching the problem, Erik.

[John Wenzel]

As someone that formerly worked for Ed, I appreciated his open-minded approach to defining our jobs. Practicality, in other words, was given room to trump formality -- which is the way it should be when you're covering a million different things.

Colorful writing, rigorous fact-checking and editing, relevant ideas, -- they're not the sole province of the printed word. That just happens to have been their home for a long time to a certain swath of writers.

[Todd Engdahl]

Hi Ed.

As an "old" journalist who's been in the middle of this issue, I think the question revolves less around format (paper vs. on screen) than it involves who the writer works for. At the Colorado Capitol, floor-access credentials currently handled by a reporters' committee. Writers for some non-traditional outlets - like me - have received credentials, but others - The Colorado Independent - have not because the credentialling committee decided their source of funding was too partisan.

[Damon]

Karl,

when you were down here in Raleigh for the ABA thing did you happen to stumble upon laura leslie's blog? She is the reporter for WUNC (npr affiliate) and even though she only gets a few minutes of airtime a week, her blog is now one of the best sources for capitol news. To my knowledge, her employer doesn't pay her for that aspect of her coverage, but I (and others) would argue that it is one of the most important things she does. I don't know how they credential down here, but if it ever becomes a question of what format a journalist is engaged in (print, electronic etc.) we are in some serious trouble

[Ed Smith]

Todd - First, thanks for weighing in. You may be an "old" journalist, but you were the person who put The Denver Post online and dragged me into the web world at the same time.
The issue of correspondent groups issuing credentials is an interesting one, and a topic that Karl Kurtz here at NCSL has commented on. http://ncsl.typepad.com/the_thicket/2007/10/more-on-blogger.html.
But I still think it can be a problem for any group to decide who is a legitimate journalist and who is not. The press, like democracy, is a messy, chaotic process. I think erring on the side of letting everyone participate is the better route for open government.