by Paul Cowan

Created on: April 17, 2008   Last Updated: September 09, 2009

Show me a "citizen journalist" and I will show you somebody who is either pushing a personal agenda or just writing for the fun of it. The first type of writer champions every rumor that agrees with his or her big idea; the second kind is a butterfly, skipping from topic to topic and sipping the nectar of ideas without ever getting to the root of any issue.

How could anybody believe that this kind of writer is more to be trusted than a professional journalist?

Oh, I know: we are all aware of the pressures journalists come under from their editors, their managements and their advertisers. Those pressures are real and can lead to distortions in the way that news is presented, but does that mean that people writing with no pressure on them at all are automatically being fair and balanced? Of course not. Journalists do at least have a professional and moral obligation to be fair and balanced in reporting events, "citizen journalists" are under no obligation at all.

And ask yourself this: how many real "citizen journalists" are there? How many people are researching and reporting the big social and political issues of the day (and by "researching" I do not mean reading a couple of on-line articles and then rehashing them?). There are hardly any.

The few bloggers who have made a real contribution to understanding events - people like "Riverbend" in Baghdad or Salman Pax in Belgrade - have been unfortunate enough to have history ripping lives apart all around them. They had access to events and communities that were beyond the reach of traditional journalists. They are the exceptions, not the rule and, again, they were writing about things that were very close to their hearts.

Among the advantages that professional journalists have, the things that make their work more credible and trustworthy than that of bloggers, is the fact that they are paid to investigate events that are often of no personal interest to them. Their job is to find out as much as possible, assess the information and present it in a way that is fair to both sides.

A journalist has to be careful, because if he tells lies he and his newspaper or broadcaster are liable to get sued. He may also be the subject of complaints to his editor that could put his job and livelihood at risk. When a blogger lies, he has no boss that you can complain to and it is unlikely to be worth suing.

Journalists are meant to check their facts to ensure the information they print is reliable. If their stories repeatedly

• 1
• 2
• Next Page >>