Blogging and the mainstream media

WHAT impact do blogs make on the mainstream media? There is no clear consensus at this point, at least as far as the media practitioners gathered at PCIJ’s conference are concerned.

Ricky Carandang, ANC; blogger, Ricky Carandang Reporting

Carandang recognized the indirect impact that blogs have made on mainstream media. But, he said, "While it’s gaining recognition, it’s not quite there yet."

Given, he said, that blogging in the Philippines is a relatively new phenomenon, it is understandable that its impact on the mainstream media is "not yet significant." The reason, he said, is that its credibility, in general, has not been institutionalized.

Journalists check blogs on their own, but it is not done in what Carandang calls an organized, institutional way. "Blogs is not something that is top of mind." We have yet to reach the point, Carandang said, when information culled from blogs serve as primary source of information for the mainstream media. What they do, Carandang described, is that their reporters verify the information themselves. Carandang uses blogs to give his own reporting more texture. 

John Nery, Philippine Daily Inquirer; blogger, Newsstand

Nery agreed with Carandang and said the impact of blogs is "minimal." "We have not gone beyond the level of personal example." He gave the example of blogger Manolo Quezon, who also writes a column for the Inquirer. "Other than him," Nery said, "it’s hard to think of other journalists whose writing bears on their blogs."

Nery told the gathered journalists about his "wishlist" for blogs, one of which, he said, is for blogs to be used to monitor radio. "There’s lots in radio that need to be verified and challenged," Nery said.

Ellen Tordesillas, Malaya

Tordesillas raved about blogs. For her, a self-described recent convert, blogs have provided her with a treasure trove of information that she uses for her own reportage.

The participants also used the session to discuss issues related to the application of journalism standards to blogging. One question asked had to do with keeping the balance in the reportage, given the inherent freedoms of the medium.

Rachel Khan of UP said, "By definition it’s a given; a blog is biased." To which, blogger and GMA journalist Joseph Morong said, "If it’s an ordinary citizen blogging, maybe. But if it’s a journalist, it’s more difficult."

Alan Robles’s response to this question is, "It’s all about consequences. If you’re a journalist, and a blogger, someone someday will catch on to you." It’s all about responsibility, he said.

The bloggers among the participants swapped their experiences about institutional backing from their news organizations (or the lack of it). The banter was especially lively when it came to the question of professionalizing blogs, editing, and even the varying levels of technological literacy of newsroom managers.