The author of the opinion piece is Malachi O'Doherty, who refers to himself as a "freelancing radio journalist." In a humorous, and I believe authentic way, he describes the relationship between bloggers and professional journalists.
A most interesting citizen journalist headline appeared in the Aug. 9, 2010, issue of the Belfast Telegraph (Ireland): "Citizen Journalism Will Never Stop the Presses." I had to read the article.
He says: "Blogging aspires to being the new journalism and journalism in the traditional media wants to argue that it has professional standards to defend. But there is one big flaw in the perception that bloggers and journalists are at war with each other; they actually feed off each other." He uses personal experiences to illustrate his point.
O’Doherty does a good job of defining the differences between a journalist and a blogger. Here’s a portion of what he says: "The journalist has to deliver on time. There are deadlines. The blogger can go to the pub and upload the recordings later, maybe even the next day. The journalist has backing. When harassed by abusive calls and threats of libel, the newspaper or broadcaster should take the heat. The blogger alone will more readily succumb to pressure." But O’Doherty gives you much more.
I was going to share his final conclusions with you, but I think the piece is so good you should read it yourself. Here’s the link.
http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/opinion/citizen-journalism-will-never-...
Thomas L. Blair is a sociologist and political blogger on the Chronicleworld 'for creative renewal in Black Britain and Afro-Europe'. His work is honoured in the British Library's archive of "social, historic and culturally significant web-based material from the UK domain". He won top prize in the blogging competition on The-Latest.
Sumantra Maitra is a freelance journalist from Mumbai, India. He is a correspondent for All Sports magazine, and a foreign affairs blogger for the Washington Examiner. He has written articles for news website Merinews.com and other regional publications. Sumantra runs a blog at DailyWorldWatch.wordpress.com. He provided exclusive eyewitness reports for The-Latest on the Mumbai bombings of 2008.
Brian Usher is photography consultant for The-Latest.Com. He is a highly experienced editorial and commercial photographer whose work has been published throughout the world, appearing in many well known magazines and newspapers. Brian has featured in several books and has been a writer for the Royal Photographic Society magazine.
Heidi Kingstone has spent time in Afghanistan reporting for a number of publications. Her work has appeared in the Financial Times, The Spectator, The Sunday Times and other international journals. She has also reported from places like Iraq, Rwanda, Lebanon, Sudan, Democratic Republic of Congo, and Kenya. Heidi is The-Latest's Editor at large.
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