Nama : Shofia Noor Sahara

Kelas : TBI A

The Blogger vs The Online Journalist

In the 21st century, the state of publishing the news has both evolved and is continuing
to evolve. The world where the journalist the reporter, the correspondent, the newshound
only writes for traditional print publications (newspapers, magazines, and even newsletters) is
long gone and certainly obsolete. Today, rather, we see news articles published on websites
and in print publications.

And with this transition comes a transformation in the journalist’s roles, titles, duties
and publishing domains. There is a print journalist, either a reporter or columnist, of course,
whose articles and editorials may appear on websites after they’re published in print; and then
there is an online journalist, who may also be a reporter or columnist, who writes solely for a
website (such as cnn.com). And on top of this seemingly confusing and changing dynamic is the
relatively new advent (seen in the last 10 to 15 years or so, at least) of the blogger, who writes,
well, blogs which appear on websites, such as huffingtonpost.com and on personal websites. It
involves an individual recording their opinions and disseminating information, photographs and
links to other websites on a regular, daily or weekly, basis.

It’s an understandable observation that the online journalist and the blogger, on first
look, appear to be doing pretty much the same thing, the only difference between them is their
job titles. Both are, in essence, writers whose articles and stories appear on websites, and their
words, sentences, and thoughts are read online but do a blogger and an online journalist really
do the same thing? The answer is no and yes kind of. Sort of well, not really. Let’s look first of
all, at how these two jobs compare. Both do involve writing, as well as writing for some kind of
website (similarity 1). These two jobs are indeed performed by skilled, professional writers at
least we hope so writers who are well versed on a certain subject, beat, topic, or even range of
topics. Readers read their work on websites, and both the online journalist and the blogger are
most likely knowledgeable of the inner workings and relevance of digital media, SEO (search-
engine optimization), how the Internet works, and both should possess an extensive
understanding of the shift toward a mobile network and its ever growing applications in a
consumer society. Both kinds of writers are generally paid for their work, as well, but this is not
necessarily always the case.
 However, on many other levels, the two jobs are completely different. In fact, they’re
entirely different. The online journalist doesn’t write on whatever topic or subject they wish (as
does the blogger, in most cases instead the online journalist is assigned a beat, they have to
interview people and dig up facts on a daily basis, then use the information gained from those
interviews and research to cook up relevant and topical stories to keep readers informed on
relevant issues (difference 1).

Bloggers, on the other hand, aren’t necessarily journalists. Most are, in fact, far from
ever being considered professional journalists. They don’t work leads to stories. Instead of
finding legitimate sources (journalists, however, need sources to incorporate objectivity in their
stories), and rather than writing journalistic, objective, news-oriented copy often on current
and controversial, informative topics, like gun control, crime and politics the blogger,
depending on the organization they’re writing for, usually writes on just about anything that is
buzzing on the Internet (difference 2).

A blogger could be writing as a hobby on their own website, and a blogger could be
writing as a promotional tool for a product that is out, like a newly published book, a service,
etc. And a blogger usually only writes opinion based pieces for a particular website, similar to
what a columnist would write for a newspaper. A blogger’s writing could be hearsay, and most
of the time the blogger is not a journalist trained to write articles void of their own, personal
opinions, and their work usually includes much of their own influence or comments, which is, in
a sense, similar to an online columnist; the blogger writes what is generally self-serving for
themselves or for the company or organization they write and work for. Also, an online
journalist is usually a salaried position, with a daily or weekly quota of stories to be produced
whereas the blogger is generally compensated for each blog they write.

In conclusion, the blogger and the online journalist to the everyday reader seem like
one in the same. But, in actuality, they are completely different jobs with completely different
roles, responsibilities and career experiences. It is true that the online journalist may write
blogs in addition to their own reported stories and then for some media companies, they may
even be required to write a blog. The blogger could even be a print reporter looking to get
more work also, a blogger may be doing freelance journalism on the side.