Microsoft Word does not recognize the definition of blogging. If the word is typed into a Word document, it is considered misspelled, and alternate spellings are bogging or logging. Blogging becomes more popular every day; however, numerous people rightly do not recognize bloggers as authentic journalists.
Anyone can say he or she is a blogger, but not everyone can say he or she is a journalist. Both groups report facts and write opinions, but there is an immense difference regarding the writing quality between a blogger and a journalist.
Bloggers can be anyone. A priest, a high school student or a single mom with two children. There is no criteria or test to become a blogger. As long as he or she writes on the Web, he or she can earn the title.
They can write about any topic, ranging from entertainment to current political events. True, millions of people do read blogs, but that does not mean the sites are 100 percent truthful and error-free. Bloggers are beginning to call themselves journalists, but bloggers are not journalists. I have read numerous blogs, and a lot of them have continuous ramblings with no point whatsoever.
To be a journalist, there needs to be training and much-needed experience. It takes years of practice and article writing to form cohesive and interesting stories.
Some people are born with a natural talent for writing, but they still need to learn the mechanics of writing. These small details include structure, how to grab the audience's attention and style. You cannot write a sentence and expect it to be flawless.
A journalist goes through training to become a professional. He or she endures endless drafts before producing a quality article, and hours of designing a page that will be aesthetically pleasing. Journalists learn Associated Press style and various computer programs to make graphics and pages.
With an ever-increasing rise in Internet usage, more and more people are looking to the Web for information, as well as blogs. People no longer get news from newspapers' Web sites, but from ordinary citizens. Do these citizens have the full and accurate truth about a topic, or do they merely give an opinion?
The biggest no-no for a journalist is publishing an inaccurate, libelous story; whether bloggers understand this is unclear. Bloggers may write anything they want, without completing any research, while journalists know it is imperative to ask questions and research information for an article before it is published. Journalists understand how important it is to have accurate content and careful research so lawsuits do not occur.
Still, I do not think some people know how hard and challenging the journalism major can be. A lot of people call us "writing majors," saying we only have to write short articles, never taking a calculus or biology class. It is true we do not have to solve page-long math problems or know what chemicals mix well, but it is extremely hard to find a good writer. It is a talent few people have these days, and it takes time and dedication.
My roommates and I had a discussion about who had the hardest major: one is a physical education major with an athletic training concentration, another a double major in biology and environmental science and the last is math and education major. Automatically, most agreed my English and journalism majors were easiest because they simply involved writing, but if you do not know how to write, you are not going to do well.
Sure, some people are decent writers of essays and reports, but journalist writing is completely different. You need to know a little bit about everything and manage to keep writing direct, as well as keep the attention of the audience.
Journalism is an art because you have to know what words work well with others, how to write a creative, attention-grabbing lead (first paragraph) and have the entire article flow smoothly. Journalists create written masterpieces, while bloggers create mediocre finger paintings until they learn the fine art of writing.
If you don't believe me, believe Word since it does not recognize bloggers, as well.
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