Jawn Murray, a columnist for AOL's Black Voices and a regular personality on the Tom Joyner Morning Show, had this gem in the latest Giant magazine.
Blogs are online diaries written by your average Joe - people who don't work in the entertainment industry and have no formal journalism training. They report arbitrary gossip, things they hear in hair salons and barbershops or read on message boards. They lift content and take photos from other Web sites without permission. Blogs should have a disclaimer that says, 'For entertainment purposes only', because as entertaining as they may be, they are definitely not reputable news sources. (Read the full article).
The terms "journalist" and "blogger" are not mutually exclusive things. Blogging is really about a platform that enables us everyone to have a voice - some use that voice like journalists, and some use it to pass along "things they hear in hair salons". Mike Arrington and his staff at TechCrunch have proven to be incredibly reliable new sources, perhaps even as trustworthy as the WSJ. Are they bloggers? Journalists? Or, more likely, a little of both?
I wonder what Jawn thinks of Engadget and the other Weblogs, Inc. blogs that are now AOL properties.
Please, post your arbitrary gossip and barbershop rumors in the comments.