Chris KempIf someone told me a year ago they had a blog, I would’ve advised them to see a doctor. However, putting my somewhat lagging technological knowledge aside, the blog phenomenon can no longer be avoided. It seems nearly everybody has an online journal these days, the concept of which continues to escape me completely.
Today, there is no end to what services one may choose to use to start a blog, short for “web log.” From LiveJournal to Xanga, one need not know HTML or even, evidently, proper grammar to secure an outlet for his or her thoughts on the Information Superhighway. While I see the benefits such a service may provide, as a journalist, it is the inevitable ethical downfalls that worry me.
First, in regards to those who keep online personal journals, I have to wonder why you would want to expose your innermost thoughts for all to see in cyberspace. And, why would anyone, aside from close friends and family, care to read them?
I suppose, as one of my friends explained it, personal blogs may appeal to the voyeuristic nature of human beings. The only similar trend I see is our obsession with reality TV. Maybe we’re so unimpressed by the creative abilities of the modern human mind we are only satisfied when viewing “The Bachelorette.”
Also, the effects personal web logs may have on their owners, I believe, are not taken into account by those who write them. From my limited experience glancing at such logs of my peers, I’m almost positive they would not want their entries published for public viewing in either The Spectator or The Flip Side.
This naturally leads to the greater concern garnered by blogs that are considered journalistic in nature. What ensures their truthfulness, or any credibility at all? The highly publicized blog “scoop” on the intentions and history of White House reporter Jeff Gannon can serve as an effective example of this.
Gannon, a former reporter for two conservative Web sites owned by a Texas Republican activist, according to a Feb. 19 WashingtonPost.com article, was given day-to-day press access to the White House by supplying his real name (James Guckert), birth date and Social Security number.
Gannon said he could not receive a permanent press pass because of his affiliation with openly partisan Internet news sources. However, Gannon received scrutiny from blogs and mainstream news sources after asking a particularly partisan question slamming Senate Democrats and Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., in particular.
Shortly thereafter, the Democrat bloggers at Americablog.org dug up Gannon’s history using his real name only to find he had posed on a gay-escort Web site offering his services for $200 an hour. One may ask, “Who cares?” Well, the same blog, under the guise of being journalists themselves, have taken the story to new levels, claiming Gannon had obtained a permanent White House press pass and White House officials had given the right-leaning writer special access, both of which have been unsubstantiated.
Unlike the Washington Post article on Gannon, Americablog.org never talked to the reporter himself or White House officials and therefore, had no way of presenting any sort of journalistically-sound evidence. Blog journalists often throw objectivity out the window in favor of unverified hearsay, or even all-out lies.
Furthermore, while the Bush Administration is being smeared (though rightfully so) on numerous liberal blogs for their proliferation of “news segments,” being shown on networks around the country, these liberal bloggers themselves often look at little more than left-leaning propaganda when “reporting” such events.
True, cognitive dissonance will cause Republicans to watch Fox News and Democrats to listen to Air America, but to what extent should people be allowed to hear or watch only that with which they agree? The culture surrounding blogs only perpetuates the self-imposed ignorance of those on both sides of the political spectrum.
As a print journalism student, in order to graduate with a degree in the field, I must complete courses in media law and ethics. The “insta-journalists” spearheading the blog movement, however, need little more than a brain between their ears.
It would be unfair to assume all blogs and blog journalists are without merit at all, as I’m sure quite a few are providing an important service in the democratization of information.
As it used to be essential for a journalist to work at a mainstream media outlet, blogs are now beginning to provide alternative methods of reporting that have the ability of reaching large numbers of people.
According to the Media Center at the American Press Institute Web site, 1 billion computers are currently connected to the Internet and one-tenth of the world’s population, 600 million people, have access to the Internet. With the ability to affect all those minds, all journalists, mainstream and bloggers alike, must take into consideration what they present as truth.
Pelleymounter is a senior print journalism and political science major and editorial editor of The Spectator. Pelley’s Perspective is a weekly column that appears every Thursday.
