Partisan Blogging Part Deux

Watching journalism’s every move

Some bloggers have become independent journalists, but many others are using their growing influence to attack the media.

A story in Thursday’s edition of The New York Times (reg req) discusses the tension between bloggers and journalists in relation to the presidential election. According to the story, hordes of partisan bloggers are attacking the traditional media for the biases and inaccuracies they say are commonplace in mainstream news stories. These independent Internet writers say they can serve as a check on the power of journalists, providing an alternative voice. "The traditional players, including the press, have lost some of the control or exclusive control they used to have," Jay Rosen, chairman of NYU’s journalism department and a blogger, told the newspaper.

The traditional players also have lost some of their prestige, thanks to constant attacks from widely read blogs, some of which urge their readers to call and send emails to reporters of criticized articles, according to the Times, which is no stranger to politically motivated attacks. Howard Fineman, chief political correspondent for Newsweek, is a favorite target for the people behind liberal-leaning Web site DailyKos. The site recently called Fineman a "slime" and said he "loves the G.O.P. and hates gays just like all of the press."

"Most of us now realize that this is a constant conversation, and I think that largely that part of it is good," Fineman told the newspaper. "Some of the stuff includes very personal and nasty things about people - they go after people's physical characteristics, they'll say somebody's ugly - and you just have to ignore that." But he added: "I would be lying if I didn't say it could be hurtful.”

This story didn’t give too many details about the readership of political blogs or an idea of how much influence bloggers carry, but I know several people who get the vast majority of their news from popular blogs such as instapundit.com or the aforementioned Daily Kos, two sites with strong agendas. That’s fine; it’s just like reading columns or news analyses, but it you’re not balancing that with straight news or different opinions you could wind up regurgitating some else’s ideas.

Partisan Blogging

Bloggers say what objective news outlets can't

I came across interesting stats in a recent Associated Press story about partisan blogs: "A recent Pew Internet and American Life Project found more than two million Americans have their own blog. Most have few readers but some garner thousands of hits daily as the American public becomes increasingly distrustful of mainstream media."

The story focused on the rise of bloggers commentating on the presidential election, which has "prompted a frenzy of gossip and conspiracy theories." According to the story, "Experts say much of the gossip on the Internet is as loony as supermarket tabloid stories claiming Elvis Presley lives, but that it still has a role to play in the campaign."

It's great that people are able to put their theories out there, but the danger is that readers could mistake some of these blogs for legitimate news sources. I hope there still is a decent level of skepticism among blog readers (as well as newspaper and magazine readers).

Of course, newspapers and magazines are creating their own blogs. Like editorial pages, these allow reporters to discuss topics without trying to remain objective and without worrying about space. I interned at the San Francisco Bay Guardian, an alt weekly with a decidedly liberal point of view. At alt weeklies, writers don't have to censor themselves or stay within boundaries as much as journalists at mainstream dailies, but there still are certain freedoms only available in companion blogs. The Guardian's political blog allows writers and editors (usually Steve Jones, the city editor) to expound on ideas that were left out of the print edition for whatever reason.

The Dallas Morning News has a political blog and a quick glance at it shows how different this format is from that of the newspaper. Besides letting the editorial board discuss whatever issues interest them, newspaper blogs really promote reader feedback. In a recent post, Rod Dreher, assistant editorial page editor, starts with an email from a reader and then goes off on a bit of a tangent, denouncing people who slap obnoxious, insulting bumper stickers on their cars.

Another Morning News post, by editorial writer Rodger Jones, presents a scan of major polls . Two things jumped out at me: Jones wrote, "All in field thru yesterday," showing that language is looser online. Also, a quick blurb on three polls reinforced the idea that blogs are about small bits of information. Newspaper journalists craft stories, but Americans sure do love blurbs. Small doses of easily digestible information could transform journalism more than any new technology.

Observing the Observers

Taking a step back, I want to reiterate why this blog could become a valuable resource for journalism and media studies students and anyone else who is interested in new media.

During the past few years, I've realized how important it is for a journalist (professional or student) to be aware of new trends in media and to be an enthusiastic consumer of media. There's no denying the powerful impact blogging is having on journalism, in terms of empowering journalists to become independent publishers and giving "regular people" tools they can use to document their lives.

This recent development brings up a plethora of questions. Should bloggers abide by a standardized ethics guide? Is there, on the most basic level, a difference between a traditional reporter and a blogger? Will the scoop-oriented bloggers force journalists to change their tactics?

I don't have the answers, but I'm interested in trying to figure them out. And I think other journalism students and professional journalists should be interested, too.

To out or not to out?

A Washington, D.C.-based blogger's campaign to out gay politicians who oppose gay-friendly legislation is putting journalists in a quandary -- what is appropriate to report? Rep. Ed Schrock of Virginia was blogger Michael Rogers' most high-profile victim. The two-term Republican ended his re-election bid last month after Rogers posted an audio clip allegedly featuring Schrock talking on a gay phone service. Schrock, who supported the proposed amendment to ban same-sex marriage, never addressed the allegations, but their existance was enough to force him into early retirement.

This is a pretty good example of independent journalism and the lack of a code of ethics among bloggers. This kind of story is something a lot of traditional publications wouldn't publish, but blogs allow independent writers to publish whatever they want (sort of like satellite radio, which is in the news because of Howard Stern's impending move) Just as interesting, some newspapers and magazines will pick up a story that was broken by a blogger even if they wouldn't go public with the news themselves.

(Check out Michael Rogers' blog here.)