Citizen Journalists & Blogging: Buyer Beware

I started blogging back in 2004, like many people, using the Weblog as an online personal diary or sorts, giving me a place to post images of the home renovations I was doing as well as a place to write down my feelings and thoughts about my relationship with my then-current wife and her daughters. Being the clever guy I am, I named it "David's Home Work" as it included all manner of things going on at my home. We had recently purchased a small two-bedroom house and I was converting the two car garage into two new bedrooms and a mudroom.

That was my introduction to weblogs. I have been a blogger ever since. To date, I believe I have authored three different blogs, one jointly with my current wife, about our experiences raising three children: one who spent his first decade being the center of the universe and the twin sisters he gained who turned his universe on end. This is the fourth blog I have created. I feel that my blogging has matured, much like blogging in general has matured. I will state the obvious, though. "Matured" is not the same as "mature." And that goes equally for me as well as the entire blog-osphere.

My blogging has, until now, been more about tracking my own life and the events and/or milestones that have shaped my life. Blogging in general has grown to give a voice to people all around the world, not just for their own uses as a diary, but also as a means of sharing information in a format similar to media outlets. You can now find a wide variety of blogs about various products, services, information and community action/service.

Many of the information blogs are treated and styled like highly targeted newspapers or magazines, but online. These outlets have given rise to what has been termed "citizen journalists," the people publishing these blogs. There are many reasons why people publish these "news blogs" but its usually because they feel the mainstream media is 1) ignoring an important story, 2) corrupt, or 3) both.

A great study published in New Media & Society (2010) looked at political blogs and why they began and why they continued to blog. The reasons given included statements like "to provide an alternative perspective to the  mainstream media," "to help society," "to inform people about the most relevant information on topics of interest," and many more external motivations. Their internal motivations were primarily "to let off steam" but that reason faded when current motivations were considered. The findings of the study demonstrated that these political bloggers learned over time that there was a real need and desire from readers to hear an alternative viewpoint from the mainstream media relating to the political activities in the United States.

Using this one example, we can speculate that there is a similar need or desire for alternative viewpoints from the mainstream media in other areas, too, like sports, business, religions, nonprofit agencies, etc. This need has given rise to more and more of these citizen journalists establishing and promoting blogs that offer an different view of the events happening in these other areas of interest.

But just because I am motivated to publish a blog, does that mean people should actually pay attention or believe the information I publish? One of the findings from the study mentioned above was that these political bloggers found they could actually shape the national conversation to some degree by the information they provided on their blog. That can be a pretty heady position to be in for people. Having the ability to shape or even set the national agenda or conversation as it relates to a particular topic is very powerful. And we all know, power has the ability to corrupt.

Markham Nolan,  managing editor of Storyful.com, provided a great discussion on TED Talks about how journalists today have to filter through all the information available on the internet (including blogs) in an effort to provide accurate information. He provided some interesting facts about the sheer volume of information being added to the internet every minute, cautioning everyone that sifting through all that information is becoming harder and harder. Nolan had some eye-opening examples about how information can be quickly verified or debunked, but his closing message applies to the entire internet, including blogs: there is a lot of information available on the internet. Not all of it is accurate, not all of it is truthful. People using the internet need to be vigilant about the information they collect, read or use from online and be sure to confirm the validity of that information before using it.

Citizen bloggers are a great resource for people who want an alternative view or perspective from the mainstream media. Often these bloggers are motivated for good reasons to help others and serve as watchdogs for business, media and government. But relying solely on these bloggers can be treacherous, as they are not always trained as journalists. Journalists in traditional media environments are taught to fact-check their stories before ever sending it to press or air. Citizen bloggers are not always that professional, and may rush to publish information that is yet to verified or confirmed as accurate. It remains up to the media consumer, whether it be mainstream media, blogs or fringe media, to decide what information is real, accurate or appropriate for their own consumption.