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Wednesday, November 30, 2005 |
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I will be attending the Global Voices Online summit on Dec 10th in London. Am on at this session : "SESSION TWO 11:30-1:00 Best of both worlds Much
is made of the "blogging vs. journalism" argument. We believe there can
and must be room for both in this world, and that the world will be
better for having both. In this session we explore the potential for
synergies between professional journalists and citizen-bloggers. How do
journalists and bloggers interact in the world outside the US and
Europe? How can bloggers become journalists and journalists become
bloggers? How do the two learn to work together and respect each other?
How can we combine the value of professional journalism with the power
of citizensí online conversation to help all members of the human race
understand each other better?
Led by Rebecca MacKinnon, with input from Jeff Ooi (Malaysia), Ndesanjo Macha (Tanzania), Dina Mehta (India), Georgia Popplewell (Trinidad & Tobago), David Sasaki (Americas Editor), Onnik Krikorian (Armenia), Ben Parmann (Eurasia Blog), and Dean Wright (Reuters)" There has been much happening in India in a ' us vs them' way, with the most 'famous' controversies being Mediaah and IIPM, with bloggers swarming in full passion against attacks on other bloggers. And there is evidence that mainstream media is looking hard at blogging -- I see blogs being mentioned almost daily now in some newspaper, magazine or TV report here in India. We know blogging is a very powerful tool, and I have lived with this realization since the Tsunamis struck. But power without restraint, responsibility and maturity can be really really dangerous. There is a case for more responsibility and ethics for bloggers - bloggers have been known to pass sentences in mob justice. Darryl D'Monte one of our more respected journalists asks, are bloggers parked:"When does a writer become a blogger? This is a
question that is familiar to anyone who uses a keyboard these days, but
the obverse question isn't as familiar: when does a blogger become a writer?
At a recent workshop on effective writing on the web, organized by The
New Media initiative of the Mumbai-based Comet Media Foundation, the
inveterate blogger, Dina Mehta, asked this latter question bluntly, and
implied in response that there is no difference between the two. Many
old media hands and creative writers, however, begged to differ. "....... At the same time, it is true that with the
mainstream media dumbing down with a vengeance and looking to their
bottom line rather than people who live at the bottom, bloggers are
very much in business. They are telling it like it is, rather than what
media barons decide is politically or commercially more convenient. In
the US, the war in Iraq is condemned far more pungently in blogs. But
blogs aren't about to destroy conventional media anytime soon" When asked, I always say I am
not a journalist, I am a blogger. There are rubs - professional bloggers increasingly want to make some money off
blogging. Still, the long tail of blogging remains quite personal
for most bloggers, with the exception of a few. Then, there are more
and more journalists who are becoming good bloggers - I think it helps
them at what they do. Yet, there is a distinction in
my mind - blog media is about rub points and conversations, it is
about writing out loud and learning, it is about reporting in real
voices in real time. Blog media can be individual or group
perspectives, most tend to be independent voices, the only community
that is formed is in the links, whereas MSM is about reporting on facts
or interviews within the context of a newspaper or station or media
empire.
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Copyright 2009 Dina Mehta
