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The Internet sites of most newspapers have become part of their editorial strategy. Just look at leading papers such as the New York Times, the FT, the Wall Street Journal, their business models is not always very clear to me (you can access articles and archive by subscription, pay for the particular article you are looking for, articles may be free up to a week after their initial publication) but newspapers cannot live without the Web anymore.

Beyond their mere presence on the Internet, something more interesting is happening. It is how the information is produced and “consumed”. Newspapers and journalists used to hold a certain authority and credibility. I think these features have been eroded by the Web and especially blogs.

Some sites are dedicated to check facts and scrutinizing how media deliver information and make mistakes. They are not delivering fresh information, but, to a certain extent, they are a substitute to media (checking facts should not be the basic starting point when writing a story ?). The press used to be considered as a fourth power in a “checks and balances” system counterbalancing the political power. As the press, and the media more generally, can be manipulated, is the Web to become a fifth power to counterbalance the media and bloggers be its avant-garde? In countries where media are tightly controlled, this is probably a relief� This is the #1 blog listed under media in technocrati:

For the time being it is interesting to see how both worlds are intertwined (or even merging, welcome to open journalism!). Some journalists have their own blogs and you can digg or bookmark articles on del.icio.us on certain newspapers websites.

It is not rare now to read articles quoting blogs as sources or as a good indicator of public reaction to certain news.

The other way around, it is not rare to read a story on a blog, from a journalist or not, that will become an article a few days later.

Another effect of blogs is that instead of being shared by a happy few, some news that were limited to small circles can be disseminated on the Web quite easily. In that case, some information that would not be �politically correct� to be published, or that would harm interests that usually fund media through advertisement, can reach a large public.

Publishing on a blog can protect from drastic legal action as it can be considered as a way to express opinions rather than reporting news, although bloggers should remain careful. This is obviously a two edge swords as blogs can also be used to spread unfounded rumors.

This point raises the issue of trust on the Internet (which sites are reliable regarding information, which site do I trust to pay online�) but that will be another post.

It also remains to be seen who will counterbalance the power of bloggers and when their authority will be challenged. Who will be the sixth power ?

And remember, blogging is hype, but being on TV is still a must:

RD

This entry was posted on Tuesday, October 3rd, 2006 at 4:35 pm and is filed under Real Questions. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.