Journalism v.s blog

Chapter 4:

       In Chapter 4, Rettberg talks about the main differences between the art of journalism and blogging. For the most part, I have never really made a connection between the two. As a person that I suppose, has somewhat grown up in the beginnings of the digital age, I always thought of journalism as being news on print, never digital. Both my parents are the type that like to be aware of what is happening in the world, and so growing up we would always have newspapers on our table and it would be passed around during breakfast. Blogging on the other hand is something that I myself have just recently become used to, that I personally use as somewhat of an online diary.

       On page 84, the author then talks about how "blogs are not journalism, nor do their writers aspire to be journalists." I don't necessarily agree with that statement and much too bold to be claiming. I actually think that in this age, for people who want to get their opinions and voices across and out there into the world but don't have the ability to actually write for an established newspaper such as New York Times or whatever, it is a great outlet for them to do so and it is also a very smart way to get noticed. Although of course it might take a longer process for someone to approach the bloggers about a potential position in journalism, I think it is still very possible that the bloggers may have that intention.
I also thought it was a very interesting point that the author made about bloggers blogging about what journalists write about, but where they "failed to investigate or was not deemed fitting." With blogging comes much more freedom, because it allows you to voice not just what your passionate about and facts and things and such, but rather it also provides the outlet to release your opinions, which in most cases journalism does not.

        In Journalism of Verification, I liked the idea of verification being the difference between blogging and journalism, and I agree with that statement much more so. Especially when the author mentions transparency  - journalists have to stick with the exact facts, and not only that, but have to verify about a million times to make sure what they're printing is true. In our own campus furman newspaper, we have a policy that if we print something wrong, in the next issue it MUST be acknowledged and printed somewhere, so I can imagine a big newspaper such as New York Times would be adamant about doing the same. Bloggers on the other hand, aren't bound to "true" facts, and don't necessarily have to prove anything to anyone either. In that case then, perhaps maybe that is why blogging is becoming so popular and journalism is deteriorating.