Jaye wrote this weekend about the notion that bloggers might be press, and she goes on to define press as the process of getting information out to the public. Presumably without bias or commentary.
If that’s what the press is these days, they’re doing a really poor job of it. Turn on the TV and watch coverage of the presidential election, and see if you can tell who is for which candidate. One thing you can say for bloggers, agree or disagree with us, at least you know where we stand. Our biases our right out in the open.
When you know the biases of the writer, you can decide whether it colors their news, or blog updates. Real journalists hide their biases. They have them — everyone does — but you don’t know what they are, and that’s much less honest.
Should bloggers be given press credentials if we aren’t really press? My gut feeling says no. Once bloggers start thinking that they are anything more than a regular player with a website, they may suddenly feel they are speaking for the community when they write, that their opinions should be given more weight.
That’s totally not the case. Bloggers speak only for themselves, and all any of us are, are players with a website. We are not press.
And I can’t really see anyone PAYING me to write snarky things about their game, anyway 🙂
3 thoughts on “Not press, don’t wanna be.”
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Didn’t we have this discussion before? Are bloggers press?
I tend to favor the very simple, “You’re a member of the press if you believe you are and act on the belief.” The fact that the method for publication has a far lower bar to entry than in days gone by should not automatically exclude somebody from the designation as press. I would not let something so trivial as “ability to get a press pass to event X” be the bar, unless we’re willing to hand over other constitutional issues to event organizers as well.
As for bloggers feeling they are speaking for the community and that their opinions should be given more weight, I am confused as to the “Once bloggers start” part. I think many already have. Many blogs are forum posts outside of the forums, and what you describe is certainly, if not the default, certainly common behavior on official forums.
I think “press credentials” are helpful for bloggers. Not to turn them into journalists, but to get access to original content. As blogger without access you’d be limited to comment an interview you read elsewhere, with boring, run of the mill questions. As blogger with access you could ask questions yourself, and get better information about more specialized subjects instead of general bla bla.