Blogging as Journalism

A while ago I received this E-mail from a reader, Noor Alkhamees. I thought it was such a good question that I wrote a post about it the next day. Below is a copy of her original question and my response which has been updated to be included in the Reader’s Questions Series.

Noor’s E-mail

Hi,
I’m a student majoring in International Journalism. I’m taking this course
called “New Information technologies,” and we have been discussing
blogging. I found the information on your website very useful and I do
have a question. In your opinion, what is the future of web blogging?
During the war on Iraq, lots of the information that was broadcasted was
taken from personal web blogs, what do you think of this?
Thank You,
Sincerely,
Noor

As you can see from the E-Mail, Noor, an International Journalism Major, asks about the future of Blogging. She alludes to the way some information and news was and is broadcast during the War in Iraq through personal web logs.

In actuality, there were quite a few Blogs that have come out of that conflict. There was one in particular that was written on a daily basis through out a journalists stint in Iraq, he is a former colonel in the US military. Unfortunately, I can’t remember his name or the name of his Blog. This journalist wrote of his (and the platoon he was with) experiences every day, he also included pictures of the events as they occurred.

There is another blog that I recently came across from a Navy man stationed in Afghanistan with an Army Special Operations unit (no idea how that happened). It is not especially newsy, but it is a great read to get a feeling of what military personnel go through every day fighting for us. You might want to take a look at War in the Sandbox by Tadpole (he’s from the Philadelphia area, my hometown).

I am really surprised there are not more writers and journalists that take advantage of the Blogging Medium. But, with instant publishing, I am sure that there is more than a little opposition by the Main Stream Media. They have no control of what information gets out to the general public. The military probably isn’t too happy with it either.

I think that as Blogging grows, and gains the respect of the MSM, you will see more and more Blogs under the heading of major news distributors. The Philadelphia Inquirer has a print journalist, Daniel Rubin, who writes his own Blog called Blinq. The Newspaper often includes excerpts of it in their hard-copy. As a matter of fact, that’s where I found Tadpole’s Blog.

So, as long as we who use Blogging as a tool, and not just a play thing, the exposure of exceptional writers will emerge. I do not think that Blogging will replace the MSM, but it could be a valued addition once it gains the respect it deserves.

Have you come across any good examples of Blogging as a News Source? Please share.