There has been a long running discussion on the roles of weblogs and its impact on traditional journalism. Views have varied from those who think weblogs are the end of journalism as we know it, and those at the other end of the spectrum who believe that blogs have nothing to do with journalism.
As usual, the truth is somewhere in between.
Most of the 1,000,000+ blogs around the Internet have less to do with journalism and more to do with careers, hobbies and the daily trials of peoples’ pets, however there are a number of notable exceptions.
And blogs can certainly add a new dimension to journalism, but the two are not mutally exclusive. No matter what the purists tell you.
Harvard’s Nieman Foundation for Journalism provides a fascinating look at the intersection of blogging and journalism. They have produced a fantastic in-depth report that provides excellent succinct analysis of how these two universes collide from a whole host of angles.
Given the importance of journalists to the daily lives of most PR professionals this is a highly recommended read.
The entire report (2.9MB) is here in PDF format. The Weblog section starts on page 59. The full report includes an interesting section on “Journalism and Black America: Then and Now”.
Thanks to Sheila Lennon for the link.
Murphy's Law 