The Blogging Question
I guess it's my turn.
The blog that I linked is a place where I want to dissect and discuss the way things are reported by media outlets. It's not meant to be a place where I discuss blogs nor a place where I make my political leanings known.
Any time you're doing something you're serious about, it's generally a good idea to think critically about the industry/field you are in and discuss the problems and issues within it. It's constructive criticism, and it puts things in perspective.
Is there anything wrong with having personal blogs? No. If I want to have a blog where I talk about my daily problems, then that's my damn prerogative and anybody who thinks otherwise can go to hell. I find the notion that my personal opinions of issues affect the way I report insulting. I'm not some damn pundit on Crossfire, Fox TV, MSNBC, CNN or some radio station spewing my agenda and presenting it as the absolute truth. I take pride in the fact that I separate my personal beliefs from my work. That's what professionals are supposed to do. Besides, I don't see anyone questioning doctors who write out emergency contraceptive prescriptions whether they agree with birth control. What I say and what I do are separate.
Of course, it's not necessarily the truth that matters, but the perception of what is true. Therefore, it would be problematic if I operate a purely political blog. I don't, even though I don't think it's that big a deal when I'm still in college. My professional career hasn't even begun yet.
But the bottom line is that I know where the line between my personal and professional life is. And I put hard work in to my job, and I do my best to strip away all of my prejudices when I write my articles. If somebody wants to make a fuss about something I wrote in my blog that I make no active efforts to publicize, then they can go find some other reporter to hire. I will not consent to any newspaper management from infringing on my first amendment rights in my private sphere. It is ironic and hypocritical that an industry that is completely dependent on the right of free speech to frown upon the reporters' exercising of that right outside of the public sphere.
The blog that I linked is a place where I want to dissect and discuss the way things are reported by media outlets. It's not meant to be a place where I discuss blogs nor a place where I make my political leanings known.
Any time you're doing something you're serious about, it's generally a good idea to think critically about the industry/field you are in and discuss the problems and issues within it. It's constructive criticism, and it puts things in perspective.
Is there anything wrong with having personal blogs? No. If I want to have a blog where I talk about my daily problems, then that's my damn prerogative and anybody who thinks otherwise can go to hell. I find the notion that my personal opinions of issues affect the way I report insulting. I'm not some damn pundit on Crossfire, Fox TV, MSNBC, CNN or some radio station spewing my agenda and presenting it as the absolute truth. I take pride in the fact that I separate my personal beliefs from my work. That's what professionals are supposed to do. Besides, I don't see anyone questioning doctors who write out emergency contraceptive prescriptions whether they agree with birth control. What I say and what I do are separate.
Of course, it's not necessarily the truth that matters, but the perception of what is true. Therefore, it would be problematic if I operate a purely political blog. I don't, even though I don't think it's that big a deal when I'm still in college. My professional career hasn't even begun yet.
But the bottom line is that I know where the line between my personal and professional life is. And I put hard work in to my job, and I do my best to strip away all of my prejudices when I write my articles. If somebody wants to make a fuss about something I wrote in my blog that I make no active efforts to publicize, then they can go find some other reporter to hire. I will not consent to any newspaper management from infringing on my first amendment rights in my private sphere. It is ironic and hypocritical that an industry that is completely dependent on the right of free speech to frown upon the reporters' exercising of that right outside of the public sphere.
posted by Vincent at 9:49 PM
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