Just a couple of things.
- You can check out pictures of New Orleans and the SHRM Conference here.
- Were you inspired to blog by my conference session? Are you a Human Resources blogger? If you would like to be listed as one of the sites I love, let me know via email.
- I wonder what you think about this: the HR Bloggers panel at SHRM09 had a spirited debate about whether or not bloggers are journalists. I think writers can use blogs, videos, or traditional media sources to disseminate a story or a message; however, authentic journalism is a craft. Journalists attempt to achieve different goals than bloggers. I write and communicate using social media tools, but I’m not a journalist. I don’t play one on TV.
What do you think? Do you get “news” about workforce issues from any HR bloggers? Do you think bloggers are journalists?
I’m traveling home on Thursday and will have a new post on Friday!
{ 23 comments… read them below or add one }
I do agree bloggers and journalists have different goals, but they’re under one umbrella in the media. What we want in media is tell us the facts and tell your side of the story since you have extensive knowledge in that area, either you’re a journalist or a blogger/columnist. I know you’re not a journalist, but you are still accounted for the information you give out publicly through your blog. A great example is when a sports blogger mention a theory, without sources, that a player from the Phillies might be accused of taking steroids based on his statistical history. The player lashed out to the blogger and accuse him slander. Here’s the article:
http://theblogofchampions.com/2009/06/10/raul-ibanez-fires-back-at-blogger-over-rumored-ped-use-blogger-journalist-handbook/
Can bloggers be journalists? Sure. Dan Steinberg (Cheese boy) and Chris Cillizza of the Washington Post are hybrid blogger-journalists and are good examples that the line between bloggers and journalists have been blurred.
Have a safe trip back.
Excellent question, and one that the newspaper industry is battling, as the difference between fact and opinion is getting harder to discern. But what exactly is “authentic” journalism? Who decides? Has credibility been established?
Recall Stephen Colbert in his infamous White House Correspondents Dinner speech: “But, listen, let’s review the rules. Here’s how it works. The President makes decisions. He’s the decider. The press secretary announces those decisions, and you people of the press type those decisions down. Make, announce, type. Just put ‘em through a spell check and go home. Get to know your family again. Make love to your wife. Write that novel you got kicking around in your head. You know, the one about the intrepid Washington reporter with the courage to stand up to the administration? You know, fiction!” Are journalists today just stenographers?
There are many journalists who are doing excellent investigative work. There are also many “bloggers” who are doing the work that used to be carried by newspapers. One only has to look at the yeoman’s effort being produced by the likes of Glenn Greenwald at Salon.com or Joshua Micah Marshall at talkingpointsmemo.com.
They are certainly journalists as they keep a journal, albeit an electronic one. Now are they press? – I guess that depends on the blog/blogger. Creditability/trust is key. I would trust some bloggers more then certain carnivorous bushy tailed news networks. It is a newer medium and trust is something that is earned, so bloggers are at an automatic disadvantage. But there are plenty of smart people out there who do fact check and effectively report on their niche, and I do view them a press.
In the last year, I have found HR blogs to be a great source of information, especially in regards to social networking and the potential use in HR. I say potential realizing that many use it today, we don’t so much. I think the blogs are a great source of news – ideas emerge on a small scale that may be very usable but wouldn’t be covered by the mainstream of HR journals until they are more widespread.
I am not an HR blogger, but since much of my career was spent in manufacturing – and HR owned the safety role – I am blogging about that for the time being. I don’t feel I can blog so much about HR while employed, but I definitely benefit from having other blogs available.
Many good points above (especially the relay of Colbert’s), so no need to rehash.
One thing: I don’t agree journalists and bloggers are “under the same umbrella.” Journalists have editors and ethics (we hope) and the threat of losing their jobs hanging over their heads if they fuck up.
And one of the newspaper industry’s death-bed P.R. pitches has been to remind us of just how badly we need newspapers and “if we turn real reporting over to bloggers, everyone loses.”
I agree with this, although I think the newspapers’ very public war on blogging is banal and reveals just how desperate they are. To me, it’s not really a fight. If newspapers could figure out a business model that worked, we wouldn’t be having this discussion. So that’s the key; it’s still very much the newspapers’ (“journalists”) world and, ultimately, I think journalism and newspapers (minus the paper) will find a model that works. Bloggers, meanwhile, will continue to do their thing and, if they’re lucky and good, join the ranks of hybrids ala Steinberg, Cillizza.
Some bloggers are journalists. Some are entertainers. Some are hobbyists. Some are commentators. Some are advisers. It’s really all over the map.
On the flip side—not all of the people I see on the cable news channels are journalists either. There is way more opinion than there used to be on TV news. A lot of those people are commentators, not journalists. There’s not necessarily anything wrong with that…but I think it shows that the lines are blurry all over the place, not just in blogging.
Editors don’t always equate to ethics. The blog Politico.com is reporting that the Washington Post is selling access to “those powerful few” – http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0709/24441.html#ixzz0K6u5d4wW&C . Of course this could all turn out to be BS in which case it is proof of Laurie’s point. Now if it turns out to be true, I think it is a good check mark for the Blogs can be the press category.
As a journalist, I love HR practitioner blogs, and I love that it’s such an easy medium for people to get their stories out there without waiting on the Washington Post or their local paper to call them up.
But what they are doing isn’t journalism. Journalism is a discipline of verification. Blogging is just a medium. You can do journalism on a blog, just like you can do it on TV, in a magazine, on the radio or in a newspaper, or an e-mail newsletter — my current experiment. One of my little missions lately has been to persuade some of my favorite old-school print journalists that they can even do journalism on social media.
Blogs — the medium — are also a great way for people to share personal stories, host discussions, create community and all around push other people’s buttons. Most of what happens on blogs isn’t journalism — it’s opinion — but that’s great, as long as readers (and bloggers) remember the difference.
*Writing* is such a small part of what journalists do, a fact that has shocked the hell out of many a newbie reporter. You spend 9 hours a day digging through reports, interviewing people and shaking databases upside down, and about an hour a day writing — on a good day. Kris Dunn (who I think is the the cat’s pajamas) mentioned on the panel yesterday that it only took him a half-hour or so to write many of his blog posts. Well, me, too. The difference is what we do the rest of the workday. Kris talks to candidates and hiring managers, and I talk to sources. (Yeah, I get PAID to hang out with Laurie. Aren’t you jealous?)
To crib off of Lance Haun’s warning to people-loving HR wannabes: If you want to be a writer, you probably don’t want to be a journalist. You should probably get a real job and start a blog.
I’m not an HR blogger just a personal blogger but still new at that. Would love to become a better blogger and learn how to ease into the HR blogging world. I have just started reading the HR blogs and am loving them, especially yours. Now, I watched the webcast yesterday and it was GREAT!! I don’t believe bloggers are journalists. To me, journalists are people who report the facts to the public. In my opinion, the word “facts” is a dirty word to journalists and rarely used in their vocabulary. Journalists also do not accept criticism well, if at all. Bloggers, on the other hand, give us a mixture of facts and opinions. We can respond to what bloggers have to say, whether we agree or not, but be involved in great social medial conversation with them. Bloggers know when they put their thoughts out there, they are taking a stance that may either be agreed with or not. When comments are made, bloggers must be able to accept ALL of them. That is why HR people should make the best bloggers because we have to have thick skin to put up with the good and the bad from the top down!
Do I have to be a journalist? Blogging is my therapy. I “story tell” to get my point across. Lots of times it’s about my family, my dog, my friends, me. Sometimes it’s about current events – and I actually do research. (Wikapedia is research, right?) I can attract readers AND get the point across – if it’s not corporatese and boring. I guess to sum it up – I’m a teacher with a story.
Bloggers, by and large, aren’t jounalists. Bloggers (at least the ones I follow) tend to write “personalized” articles. It’s written with their own particular slant, and bloggers tend to have a much more distinct voice than journalists (as opposed to pundits passing themselves off as journalists).
And while the definition of journalist has become extremely fuzzy since the advent of 24/7 news, I view a journalist as just the facts, ma’am. I don’t like that so many journalists are blogging or tweeting these days. Frankly, I don’t care what they think. I want them to give me information, and I’ll form my own opinion.
But I find excellent information from both sources. One isn’t better than the other. They’re just different and appeal to a mood, taste, information goal, etc.
Bloggers are not journalists. They are not governed by any set of rules, standards, or ethics. They can and do throw all kinds of shiz out on the net with no consequence. In exchange for their lower status, they are allowed to lounge around the house in pajama bottoms all day long. Not a minor compensation to my mind. Blogs can also be a great source of information, but be wary of what you’re being told. Some journalists are wonderful bloggers. Joe Posnanski, the best sportswriter in America, has an outstanding blog.
Mary Ellen is right on! I’ve spent the last 10 years leading change management initiatives within an international technology publishing company. The industry of publishing, the craft of journalism, the state of media is undergoing such upheaval. Basic definitions and standards are suddenly up for debate: journalism, editorial, content, ethics, advertorials and more. For media organizations undergoing this seismic change they are picking their way through serving the audience with quality editorial, responding to the mindblowing speed and breadth of online competition, and struggling against the relentless pressure from advertisers. For strategic Human Resources professionals in the media industry – we have an astounding challenge and opportunity before us to help shape and support the new media landscape.
@HRCrout. I don’t buy that “Bloggers are not journalists. They are not governed by any set of rules, standards, or ethics. They can and do throw all kinds of shiz out on the net with no consequence.” There are consequences in that credibility is lost when inaccurate, false, or misleading information is posted. Bloggers who continue to post nonsense will not be followed and their blog will be viewed as inconsequential.
I know a lot of bloggers struggle with ethics issues. I’m happy to share my ethics rules with anyone who is interested. One example: There’s not once piece of vendor schwag in my luggage right now. When I get free books, I give them away to readers like Laurie does or to appropriate charities. Women’s shelters are happy to get books about career topics, especially resumes and interviewing, for example. I don’t think most bloggers need to be as strict as I am as a journalist, but disclosure is very, very important.
Bloggers are more like columnists, in my mind. Not necessarily journalists in the reporter sense.
What Robert said. I was thinking the same thing as I was scrolling down to here. As an intermittent blogger myself, I would hardly ever describe my blog as breaking news. I would rather have it described as breaking ideas.
That does not in anyway diminish the contribution bloggers make to media. I look to journalism for facts and context. For analysis of what it may mean, I turn to the editorial page. Bloggers add context and analysis to the facts.
In my opinion, bloggers are a sort of citizen-Journalist with the essential difference being that they write news from their perspective without the level of “authority” and “responsibility” that someone writing on behalf of the New York Times or the Wall Street Journal is expected to demonstrate.
Maybe blogs are micro-news.
Michael’s comment about citizen journalists reminded me of Thomas Paine. He’s the guy who wrote the pamphlet “Common Sense” (among others), which was instrumental in generating support for what became the Revolutionary War. Pamphlets were the blogs of the 1770s, and without them, there might not have been a break from England (at least not at the time and in the manner we studied in history class).
Or maybe I’m just a ginormous history geek and you all are like, “Thomas who?”
@Tracy You are so right about the hybrid approach and how it works in some cases. I think it’s incumbent upon the blogger to clarify his/her role.
@akaBruno Good points about Colbert but I have a message for you. This comment? It’s a blog post. Throw it up on True Faith HR, ask for engagement, focus on your community, and you’re blogging.
@Corey You’re right. Journalists can blog and even bloggers, who are more ambiguous, can report news. You are so right.
@TimG You can blog about HR while employed, but you have to tell your own story.
@Rick Well I think the concept of your version of journalism is interesting, but bloggers can lose their jobs, too, if they fuck up. It’s marketplace principles and the community keeps you in line. Trust me — the community will stop coming if you fuck it up, get it wrong, or abuse the trust of your audience. Also, lying or making up facts? Can’t do it.
@Kerry Bill O’Reilly isn’t a journalist? Sean Hannity? Don’t tell my Gramma.
@MaryEllen You need to start a blog on journalism. You are so right.
@Sara Totally well written comment and I agree — & thanks for watching the webcast, yo!
@Sue “i’m a teacher with a story.” Wow, that’s totally right except I was taught by nuns. I’m smuttier than the nuns.
@HAria I love how you focus on preferences for sources. You are so right.
@HRCrout Well, that’s a strong line. Blogging, as Mary Ellen tells us, is a tool. It’s a format. A platform. Content matters.
@Julie I’d go back to work as a Human Resources pro in the media because I think that would be an interesting job. Communication, communication, communication. Profit. Strategy. Brand. Media has a huge opportunity to lead the way for America to start making money, again. They’re failing. I’d love to help turn that ship around. (I mean, without having a real job and responsibilities in HR.)
@Robert As long as I’m not Bob Novak, we’re okay.
@RMS I love that. Bloggers do add context.
@Michael Blogs are micro-news? I like that, too.
@Kerry THOMAS PAINE IN THE HOUSE, YEAH!!! Everyone google him if you don’t know who he is — Kerry is not a geek and he is important to know.
I understand that this is a dead thread, but I feel compelled to answer Bruno. I must disagree. There are many bloggers who spew false information……racists come to mind…..who continue to have a following. All this is required for a successful blogger is that you find an audience.
@HRCrout It’s not dead. You can continue. No probs.
A unique challenge for corporate HR bloggers is not the debate on journalist vs. not, it’s avoiding being the PR department while still respecting your employer and providing credible information about the company. I’d be interested in your views on that.
Enjoyed the session and I did find it inspirational. Covered it on my blog here: http://bit.ly/1a3t3r , I welcome comments.