The blogosphere is a mixed bag. Too often it's filled to the brim with celebrity crotch and pot shots or mundane recaps of the everyday routine. They act as little more than trashy entertainment or published diaries when there is an opportunity for a fair bit more.
No wonder the world of journalism looks at blogs as a waste of space...even though most online newspapers have blogs from their featured columnists.
A lot of bloggers are self-referenced "journalists" and this is not exactly accurate. No, you do not need to be employed by a paper or a magazine to be a journalist, but ideally you will have access to sources and not simply post an opinion.
Blogs provide a more open opportunity to editorialize content and that's not exactly journalism in the purest sense of the word. Remove opinion, replace it with researched facts and sources and then you can call it journalism but why bother?
The point being is that while the world of professional journalism offers little opportunity to express character or creativity, blogging is the opposite.
This is an outlet, a chance to vent, be creative and find a way to comment on life without being mundane. Not always the case, but blogging has that opportunity. As a journalist, I am excited about the prospect of voicing my opinions online as a break from what I consider the bland existence of "proper" reporting. It's fun on occasion, but much of it is terribly banal.
Welcome to my mind...tell me if it's boring.
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