In 1884, the UW Board of Regents advised, ...The great state University of Wisconsin should ever encourage that continual and fearless sifting and winnowing by which alone the truth can be found.\ Ironically, although this quote appears on the cover of The Daily Cardinal, most people no longer seek truth through newspapers. Today, many truth-seekers ""sift and winnow"" via the blogosphere.
Consequently, many journalists fear the demise of print journalism at the hands of the proverbial bloggerman. As newspaper readership declines and blog audiences skyrocket, newspapers will inevitably lose their grip on the news media. The efficient, accessible and global format of blogs threatens professional journalists' agenda-setting power, according to political science professor Ken Mayer.
""Whether you think the traditional news is biased to the left or the right doesn't matter,"" said Mayer ""They've lost their ability to dictate the terms and content of news coverage.""
At the current pace of the blog boom, bloggers will emerge and eclipse print and professional journalists. The adversarial relationship between bloggers and educated journalists is paradoxical, however, because the boom represents a digression to democracy unprecedented since the advent of the podium. If democracy forms the cornerstone of journalism, the professionals have a duty to support it, even if that means peaceful coexistence with the blogosphere.
The blog boom will change the way people organize themselves socially. Blogs require no physical presence and have worldwide reach. With increased Internet availability, the capacity to blog will transcend race, gender, education, income and other demographics. This will narrow the communication gap between haves and have-nots, though its spread will not instantly erase information poverty.
In the political realm, bloggers already play a crucial role in online discourse. Former Vermont governor and presidential candidate Howard Dean raised an unprecedented amount of funds in the 2004 election with blog support, and bloggers currently favor Sen. Russ Feingold, Wis., for presidential candidacy in 2008. Yet, as political bloggers navigate campaign finance laws, the Federal Exchanges Commission must question whether to exempt blogs as ""news media"" or include them in financial oversight.
In light of the campaign funding accrued by the Dean campaign through the Internet, a ""news media"" blogosphere could provide a new soft money opportunity. Current state campaign finance laws stipulate that anyone who spends more than $25 per year to influence election outcomes must register with the state as an independent committee and disclose money sources and expenditures. Some view this as unjust regulation of free speech, but lax blog regulation could stifle the grass-roots blog movement. If political groups infiltrate the blog scene and raise mass amounts of funding, they will have disproportionate influence on the electorate. The legal boundaries that currently divide the news media and blogs must remain intact or at least preclude plots for soft money.
The primary rationale for denying ""news media"" status to blogs lies in the pursuit of objectivity, which most blogs sorely and intentionally lack. Although many truth seekers prefer to ""sift and winnow"" unabashedly narrow and passionate views, a value still exists for the broad and balanced insights of the press. It is imperative to protect whatever credibility the media still possesses as objective news providers. Thus, the press must avoid assimilation of bloggers.
As information technology waxes and print journalism wanes, a new modus vivendi awaits print journalists and bloggers.
Jill Klosterman is a sophomore majoring in journalism. Send responses to opinion@dailycardinal.com.
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