E-Media Tidbits

Dark Patator, via Flickr (CC license) Emulation does not equal innovation.

I've recently been reading Making Online News -- a book of ethnographic studies of online news production. Tucked towards the back of the book is a chapter called "The Routines of Blogging" by Wilson Lowrey and John Latta. This is one of the few studies I've seen that examines the work practices of bloggers (specifically, political bloggers), rather than journalists.

Their findings support what I've increasingly suspected about popular blogs: "The more relevant bloggers become in terms of audience and influence, the more their production routines resemble those of professional journalists."

A few years ago, this would have been touted as evidence that bloggers can compete effectively with mainstream journalists, that "blogging can be journalism." But today, I think it's actually rather disappointing to read that bloggers are not experimenting with exciting new ways of working.

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Here's the chapter's central argument: The pressures of being a popular blogger lead to the same routinization that affects mainstream journalism -- as well as to aspirations of professionalism. "More than one blogger said a key turning point in the way they practice blogging was the moment they felt the gaze of the public eye. Realizing that people are paying attention ...has led these bloggers to adopt a more careful, dispassionate approach and tone."

One blogger is quoted as saying this has led to less expression of opinion and more reporting and thoughtful analysis. "I was more creative when I started, now I'm more deliberate ...I started trying to be more professional ...Once I got to 100 readers I started to get more organized and started to take more responsibility for what I posted. Then I started to restrict what I put up there .. I've ducked a couple of issues recently ...because I wanted to be better informed. I didn't want to be wrong ...so I just avoided the topic."

Another blogger said: "I've written about a candidate and said simply that the candidate has been in office too long and should go. I know more, and there are rumors I could check out ... but I chose just to say that about being there too long."

The output of print and broadcast media are shaped by restrictions. But according to the study, the lack of similar restrictions ends up similarly shaping the output of popular blogs: "Whereas constraints necessitate routines, so does a lack of limits... Bloggers have developed routine practices that narrow down possibilities."

There is, however, some dubious logic in this chapter. For instance, one passage states that bloggers, "like journalists ...do not meet or converse with most of their readers directly."

Well, yes, probably not "most" of their readers. But I would certainly argue that bloggers generally converse directly with more of their readers than journalists do. Significantly more.

From this, the authors suggest that bloggers "may" construct audiences to suit production needs -- rather than vice versa, as journalists do. However, they provide no support for this idea. My own research on blogging journalists suggests the opposite.

The chapter also features a rather curious line of reasoning that manages to liken bloggers who link to other bloggers with the "'beat' routine in journalism, which ensures a steady, predictable stream of stories." I believe this indicates a significant misunderstanding of the networked nature of the Internet. It's a much different situation from the typical physical restrictions of beats and stringers.

The authors also say, "Each blog has loyal followers who post comments and send e-mails, and bloggers tend to write to these individuals, much as journalists write for each other."

What? How does that comparison work?

...These points aside, it's a fascinating chapter that's well worth reading. We need more research like this. But it's important to remember that focusing on the most popular bloggers risks missing the wood for the trees. Blogs differ from mainstream media mainly because there are lots of less popular ones -- something that old-media economics never allowed.