Whether you're a blogger or a copywriter pitching stories or other materials to bloggers and journalists, you may be interested in a post coming up Thursday (May 1st) for the re-launch of my PR blog - www.NakedPR.com. I talked to pro blogger Darren Rowse about whether or not bloggers are a threat to journalists (or whether they should consider themselves journalists). So be sure to check that out. And on that note, what do you think about it if you're a blogger? Should you have all of the privileges of journalists? Why or why not? If you're a press release writer, do you pitch your clients' stories specifically to bloggers (instead of to journalists, or in addition to them)? I'm actually breaking our discussion into two posts coming up soon, with the second being on how to identify bloggers worth pitching with your news stories, and actually handling the pitch. So keep an eye out for that too if you're interested.
I'm a journalist or rather photojournalist and a blogger, and I doubt if many bloggers could be journalists, for various reasons. Conversely it's possible that many journalists couldn't be bloggers - also for various reasons. This shouldn't be a surprise; bloggers and journalists are writers* and it's perfectly normal for writers to be comfortable with one genre of writing but uncomfortable with another genre of writing. *They're both writers only in the sense that they both write, I deliberately didn't say anything about the comparative quality of their writing. Interesting post, Jenn, I'll try to keep track of the debate.
This would be interesting no doubt. After a long break I joined today and just got this good news.A person can be both ,a blogger and a journalist but these are two different skills to practice.Generally many writers think that it is simply witing and just a hair line hinge difference lies between these two concepts. I would wait for the interesting debate. Thank you for this enlightenment.
Let's get a little more specific in the discussion. If you were a blogger focusing on unique news stories in a niche (as opposed to a blogger focusing on evergreen content like how-to pieces), would you say that you deserve the same rights as journalists for other types of outlets (online, print, broadcast, etc.) - such as advanced notice of the news, review copies of materials, access to events for coverage, etc.?
Of course you should be entitled to all those things, and many influential and big name bloggers are given review copies, and passes to things.
But why should you be, just because you're a blogger? What if you're not a "big name" blogger? Should any Joe Schmo who sets up a blog be entitled to the perks journalists get? How should PR people decide which ones are worth dealing with in your eyes (given that time and resources aren't infinite)? Do you think those same bloggers getting the perks of journalists are also fit to handle the added responsibilities of journalists regarding accuracy of reporting, etc.?
I don't see why not. Heck, not all Journalists are fit to handle those responsibilities (Jayson Blair comes to mind, among others). I think you have to vet your reporters and bloggers, just as they ought to vet their sources. If a blogger writes and investigates with the same accuracy and quality as a credentialed journalist, then, sure, they ought to get the same perks. As for finding them...I don't see any way to get around good, old-fashioned legwork here.
So you're saying that bloggers should be willing to work by the same standards, legal requirements, etc. as more formal journalists? Should all of them? Do you think most bloggers would agree with you or realistically be willing to do that? Given the fact that recent research released by a few organizations has shown that the general public really doesn't trust bloggers yet, do you think that should influence how willing PRs should be to solicit coverage from blogs as opposed to often larger online media outlets? If you wanted to convince companies large and small to treat you like a journalist, what would your biggest argument be? Why should they devote similar resources trying to appeal to you (who may be relatively unknown compared to larger journalists)? Why should they give bloggers special treatment, instead of just letting them virally spread stories with their own twists and commentary after larger outlets have picked it up (which is often the way it happens for all but the "big" bloggers in a niche). - Just playing Devil's advocate a bit.
I would argue that yes they should be considered journalists but only also if they followed the same journalistic code of ethics and professionalism. Too many bloggers want the privilege of being considered a journalist but with none of the possible disadvantages (which in my experience usually means a dismissal of responsibility.)
Let's change the topic a little bit... Not long ago, there was discussion about PRweb's policies, with bloggers saying they need to relax some of their policies to focus press releases distributed online more on bloggers. I posted about it in the following article: How Far Should We Really Go to Please Bloggers? What are your thoughts on that? Do you think bloggers deserve "special treatment" or special pitching procedures when disseminating a news story, or should they just be grateful to get advanced notice of news like journalists do, and use the same information to craft their own style of story targeted to their own audience?
I'm currently traveling around the world. I was in East Timor on the morning of Feb. 11, the morning of the assassination attempt on the President and PM. The 48 hours after the assassination attempt, I was scanning all the news reports of how it was being covered. Most of the new reports I read were written in KL, Singapore, Jakarta or Australia. It was all pretty generic stuff. Little in the way of video. Very few photos. If I wanted to, I could have not gotten on my flight, walked over the to National Palace and provided better coverage of this global event than was being done by most news organizations. But there were several reasons why I didn't do this (despite the potential for increased traffic I could have gotten) 1) I have zero support. There is no organization behind me to help me. I would have to eat the cost of my plane ticket myself. In the big scheme of things, a plane ticket is nothing for a news organization, but it was a big deal to me. If there was some sort of danger, no one would have helped me. 2) I have no credentials. I have no ID or a well known name I can flash to get access to places. If I could say "I'm with the New York Times" I could be the same person, same gear, same talents, and be able to do much more than I could as a blogger. The real difference between journalists and bloggers isn't the people doing the writing, it is the network and organization which is (or is not) behind them. Bloggers don't have any, and that makes a huge difference.
Just letting you know that the first post is now live (the second should go up Monday): Bloggers vs Journalists: With Pro Blogger Darren Rowse EverythingEverywhere... So do you think a support system is always the distinction? There are a lot of bloggers reporting harder news or going out on a limb whether or not there's anyone to back them up.
Tech news maybe. I don't know many bloggers out there covering hard news around the world. I don't consider sitting at your desk at home taking email leaks from people at Apple to be hard news. The only examples I can think of are local bloggers who live where something is happening. There were several notable bloggers in Iraq who did this. One of them was killed. Occasionally, someone with a cell phone cam might be in the right place and the right time to record something, but those are usually one off events. I cannot think of a single blog which is doing hard foreign news on the ground like the BBC or CNN. I don't see how it would be possible. BBC is funded by the UK government. CNN was started by a billionaire and is now owned by Time Warner.
I should clairfy within the scope of your article. As far as PR and companies are concern, yes, blogs are as important as "journalists". Almost all of those examples however are industry specific blogs/media. The biggest tech blogs today are FAR more influential than the biggest magazines. You can also find this in many vertical niches. If you don't treat bloggers as journalists for the purpose of product reviews, trade shows, etc., you do so at your own risk. Above I'm talking more generically about non-industry specific journalism. The Huffington Post, as far as I know, is just commentary. They don't have a Washington, Beijing and London office. They aren't part of the White House press corps. They don't have bloggers on the ground in Afghanistan. I do believe some bloggers were at the early Presidential Primaries in the US. Should industry and academia should treat bloggers as journalists because it is in their interest to do so and because blogs are influential in that sphere. Politicians have little incentive to treat bloggers the same way. The BBC, NYT and CNN at far far larger online than any blogger, and that doesn't even begin to consider other media.
But do you really need a Washington, Beijing, and London office to be considered "journalists?" Are you saying that the classification really comes with size? And must it always be hard news to be journalism? The fact that a newspaper might cover some hard news doesn't mean there isn't a lot of commentary and "fluff" in there as well. So by the standards you mention, would you say that only some of a newspaper's reporters are really "journalists?" What are the others then? Would they (or their employers) agree with you? I'm not saying I disagree... just think it's an interesting discussion.
Um...no, that's not what I'm saying at all. You can't lump all Bloggers together, just as you can't lump all writers together who are published in newspapers (Is/Was Dave Barry bound by the same standards as George Will? Of course not.) Should anyone who publishes a newsletter---whether it's an advocate newsletter, business newsletter or just plain family newsletter---be bound by those standards? No. And it's ridiculous to suggest that. All I'm saying is that, if a blogger DOES hold himself to those standards, then he OUGHT to get the same privileges.
Oops...one more point here: I'm not saying this either. I'd counter that the "big" bloggers got that way precisely because they hold themselves to more rigorous standards than the "hey this is a cool story" crowd. If someone scoops original stories, and does a solid job of reporting them, and they have a decent readership, then you aren't giving them special treatment. It's the same treatment other writers who practice solid craftwork get. EVERY blogger shouldn't get credentialed. But a good writer shouldn't get penalized just because they don't work for a traditional masthead.
But are quality and standards enough to justify a company or PR rep devoting resources to a blogger (b/c let's face it... resources going to one person are resources not devoted to potential coverage elsewhere... everything has limits). Or is there more to it than that? What if a very reputable blogger (as in high standards) sucks at marketing their blog, and therefore has a very limited audience? Should they be given priority over perhaps a less "qualified" blogger on the reporting front if that other blogger has a huge audience in your target? John Chow is a reasonably "big" blogger. Do you think that means he holds himself to high standards? Or what about Perez Hilton? I wouldn't say getting big has anything to do with "rigorous standards" or overall quality, but that's just me.
I posted the second half of this interview a little while ago: Darren Rowse on Targeting and Pitching Bloggers. The second part of the interview focuses on businesses and PR reps pitching stories to bloggers, and knowing how to effectively target the best bloggers to reach their audience (including the strategy that I've personally found most effective for getting blog coverage in my PR experience working with Web-based clients). I'd like to skew the existing discussion here that way too. I imagine that there are far more bloggers than PR people here at DP, as opposed to those regularly reading my PR blog, so I'm curious to see if you feel differently. As a blogger, what are your thoughts on being pitched with story ideas? Do you prefer being pitched in specific ways? Only by specific types of companies? (For example, would you say you'd be more receptive to covering news given early by a major company - meaning you could help "break" the story, than you might be when targeted by a new startup you know nothing about?)
OK, I'll be back in a bit to read up on this. I'm on deadline right now and just took a quick break that should remain quick if I don't want to be up until midnight. Looks interesting, Jen.