Blogger VS. Journalist

I stumbled upon a good post from Civitatensis about the different between blogging and journalism.

I am a blogger, not a journalist:
A recent front page headline in the National Post about Iran wanting to compel its non-Muslim citizens to wear distinctive markers on their clothing drew a couple of nasty comments. The headline report was false. Some of the comments have prompted me to think about blogs and my blogging.
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By the very nature of blogging, the distinction between the two activities is blurred. The more so since some journalists blog, and some bloggers blog like journalists. But it does not make the two the same. Journalists have editors and third parties look at their copy before publication, they have a deep pool of resources, fact-checkers and data bases.

Some resourceful bloggers, conversely, can make up for the institutional lack of resources and conduct careful research, triple edit their own copies, etc.. Typically, bloggers who have the discipline to do these things are the better bloggers. In addition, although journalists are bound by ethical and professional guidelines, most responsible bloggers can keep to similar principles. Honesty and integrity are not inherent characteristics of journalists.
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Click here to read the rest.