So, 'Idiots Guide to Journalism' (Penguin 2007, Christopher K. Passante) gets it, but Murdoch's empire refuses to accept reality and instead screams weakly at the black hole hurtling toward them. Good. Couldn't be happening to a more deserving bunch.
"So what do blogs have to do with journalism? Well, a whole lot. Remember from previous chapters when we talked about storytelling, where in the early days people told stories about subjects, people and events. This way of life began the very communal and tribal form of journalism.
In the twenty-first century, the offspring of storytelling remains journalism. The word's very root, "journal," indicates information that is gathered and collected. How it's shared is the difference in journalism as we know it today.
And what could be better than free sharing on a multimedia venue with the capability of reaching endless numbers of people? So the sharing of thoughts and information in blog form can certainly be considered journalism. Well, a five-minute video clip of your sister and her best friend dancing to a pop song is not--but under the employ of news websites, a strange thing has happened. Bloggers are tipping off media to stories. Is that really so strange?
Without the telephone, there might not have been a "Deep Throat." Much like the telephone, blogs have been freeways of communication to reporters of every medium. And they're not slowing down anytime soon."
If anyone asks you whether News Ltd. should be hidden behind a subscriber only paywall, tell them "Yes! It certainly should."
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