How To Meld Journalism Into A Blog Post To Establish Trust
February 16, 2007
Craig Newmark writing in the Winter 2006 issue of the Nieman Report from the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard University wrote the article, "Community Building on the Web: Implications for Journalism".
Craig's essay gives his insight into running craigslist.org and how that experience might have meaning to journalists.
Craig describes how the craigslist community has created a culture of trust. On the whole most people treat other people in the online community, as they would like to be treated. There are a few bad apples that spam or scam fellow community members, but overall people are civil and up hold their promises on craigslist.
Political astroturfing is one form of untrustworthy information that had increased on the forums in craigslist. Craig believes that such disinformation campaigns can be amplified on the web, and taint relationships built on trust.
When asked by a group of journalists to give his views on how his insight into web communities might relate to what reporters and editors want to do in new media using the techniques of journalism, Craig thought the central requirement for a news organization is trust.
Craig describes the process of journalism and how Dan Gillmor's article, "The End of Objectivity," concludes that fairness rather than objectivity should be the journalist's goal. As reporters using the strategy of objectivity may provide the views from both sides of a story even though one side is wrong.
Craig wrote that citizen journalism often does not use the tools of journalism: Reporting, writing, editing, fact checking and publication. Yet citizen journalist dare to ask questions that need to be asked within society that may not be asked by traditional journalists as quickly or ever.
Craig thought that it was important to explore what is possible when the role of journalists and the work they do in a free society and the voice of citizens is combined on the web. Craig mentions a few examples of people who are trying to develop new models for journalism including Jay Rosen, Jeff Jarvis and Dan Gillmor.
Craig ends by saying that all people wonder whom to trust, and wish for information on new media or old that is verifiable.
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I’ve heard many people, both journalists and business people tell me that bloggers do not check facts and do not follow a journalistic approach. Yet I have read articles on blogs that are verifiable, and talk about issues that are not covered by news media. Public relations bloggers have been talking about the growing power of customers and how companies should and can use blogs as a way to talk directly with customers, and have customers talk back to companies, long before a lot of news organizations were discussing these issues. Many of the articles posted by business communications bloggers are opinion and perspective on stories that are being covered by news organizations. But many of the stories are not.
It’s strange; the communications blogging community is populated mainly by professionals, who work for an agency or who run their own company. Yet these business bloggers are willing to investigate and report on issues of interest to the community when many business journalists were not.
Should business bloggers be more like journalists? Do we have a role to play in our community of being watchdogs of institutions and business? I personally think the answer to that question is yes, and the reason why is because as people we owe it our conscience, payback to our profession and the general community to be involved.
What if journalists enrolled business bloggers in the type of community projects that have so driven the business blogging community? What then could we together produce? For the news organization any stories that are eventually produced will have a ready audience, as the audience in part produced the stories.