Of Larry and Ghafla; Arrogance or Ignorance
Well if there is a weakness
in me it is that I cannot pretend to like a person when the sight of them
drives me crazy but one thing that I have also learnt is that being ignorant of
who the other person is can lead to wrong assumptions.
Let me say it then, I don’t
like Larry Madowo and I do not watch his show nor read his column or listen to
his radio show.
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| Larry Madowo; Alot of Kenyans have reacted to his claims about bloggers/PHOTO/NAIROBI WIRE.COM |
Most people will say that
this feeling sprouts as a result of jealousy but no, am not jealous because of
his “ success” am just worried about the assumptions he makes and how it is
getting to his head.
Being a trained journalist,
from Egerton University, I was trained that the values of news are the 5WH who,
what, when, why, where and how. Another thing is that the journalist is not
supposed to be part of the news.
Also in this era of social
media, journalists are tweeting and blogging but they share ideas and
knowledge. They do not act like they know it all. One journalist who really
inspires me is Julie Gichuru, she indulges her fans in constructive talks in
her tweets. The brand thing or fame has not gotten into her head.
I am a journalist and I am a
blogger, I am a better blogger because of reading other blogs. Journalism has
taught me ethics and bloggers have inspired me to create my own space in the
World Wide Web.
Not everyone gets a shot at
mainstream media but they can be heard through their blogs. I remember when I was
doing my interview at the Standard I was asked if I have a blog. Thank God I did
and I had a wonderful time working there.
·
A good journalist
represents an organization so when they go out, people see the organization not
them.
·
A good journalist has
good interpersonal skills, they don’t say I but they say we.
·
True journalism is
not a one man show, it’s a team thing so welcome home.
I found the following
statement as true wisdom to anyone who thinks they know better. ( I am not the
original author.)
Saleem Khan, a career journalist
“Sometimes there's no difference between a
blogger and a journalist. Sometimes there's a significant difference.
At a fundamental
level, the medium defines one key aspect of difference between bloggers and
journalists: Bloggers are of the Internet by definition. Journalists may work
online but their role is not defined by any particular medium, whether it's
digital or traditional (TV, radio, magazine, newspaper).
The blogger vs.
journalist debate is (in my view) primarily an old-guard one promoted by
traditionalists who regard bloggers as unreliable, non-authoritative sources of
information vs. journalists who are viewed as reliable and authoritative under
this model. (I believe it's an argument that stems from journalists'
self-preservation instinct, meant to warn people away from bloggers and
convince them to go to journalists to stay informed as traditional news
outlets' fortunes wane.)
The reality is not so
black and white. Bloggers have diligently investigated and reported news
stories that had been ignored and eventually made it to mainstream news
outlets, and professional journalists have reported unverified, unreliable and
ultimately false stories as fact.
Bloggers may be
subject-area experts with deep professional training, experience and knowledge
of a topic that is often greater than a journalist (or they may not be).
Journalists may also
be domain experts with extensive training and experience, but are more likely
to come by their specialized knowledge of a topic over time through sources
they interview.
JOURNALISTIC PROCESS
AND BLOGGING
In general, the key
difference between bloggers and journalists is one of process. Bloggers tend to
offer opinion and analysis that links to news stories reported by mainstream
media (see Pew report), while professional journalists tend to gather and report
facts and opinion from expert sources.
The journalistic
process typically requires finding a fact or premise, and then determining the
veracity of that fact or premise by verifying it with multiple sources before
reporting and attributing it. Blogging has no such requirement or expectation;
all one needs is a blog, which is defined primarily by format: A Web page or
site comprised of a series of posts that typically appear in reverse
chronological order, which may include links, commentary, multimedia content,
and a way for readers to comment.
Journalists have
increasingly taken up blogging as a way to:
- Report observations
on the fly, share "notebook" and story-behind-the-story facts that
don't easily fit into the narrative of a formal news article
- Cover stories that
would be just a piece of a full article
- Adopt a more casual
and relaxed voice than a traditional news report allows
- Add context to a
story by linking and commenting on other material found online.
For most journalists,
even when emulating the typical blogger model of linking and commenting, the
journalistic process usually still applies. Again, there is no such requirement
or expectation for bloggers.
So, while all
journalists may be bloggers, not all bloggers may be journalists. That does not
preclude bloggers from committing an act of journalism.
On a related note,
journalism should not be confused or necessarily conflated with reporting.
Anyone can report (e.g. I saw a car crash.). Reports may or may not be true.
Journalism is a process of observation and verification that should ideally
provide context. (e.g. A high-speed police chase after a million dollar bank
robbery yesterday ended when the suspect's car crashed into a lamp post at a
busy downtown intersection.)
I view bloggers vs.
journalists as a largely irrelevant debate, particularly in terms of
audience/community engagement because people vote with their attention.
The real question:
How do we ensure that people get the news and information they need to be
effective, responsible citizens, irrespective of whether they seek it from
bloggers, journalists or some other source?
Final Word
In this age of
citizen journalism it would either be great ignorance or arrogance to assume
that you are the alpha and the omega of news. We are in a global village.
Let us have an open
minded day, shall we?
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