"Journalism's editorial priorities have changed. Entertainment has superseded the provision of information; human interest has supplanted the public interest; measured judgement has succumbed to sensationalism; the trivial has triumphed over the weighty... Traditional news values have been undermined by new values: infotainment is rampant." -British media anlyser Franklin (Tapsall & Varley 2001, "Journalism Theory in Practice", pg 74).
One of the main forms of new news media is blogging. But is it legitimately news? In an upcoming interview, I will be asking a prominent news and opinion piece writer for the Newcastle Herald, whether he considers hard journalism or blog entries as more important for his readers. Tact is recommended.
Consider the content of his blogs:
http://www.theherald.com.au/blogs/jeff-corbett/
Compared with hit-and-runs, locals' participation in the Commonwealth Games, and Maitland's $2 million bridge construction that has been put on hold, the topic of blogs seems somewhat trivial (fro example about TV commercials, roosters and the pain of automated telephone responses). The number of comments on each blog (from 20 to over100!), suggest that the public are indeed interested in these topics. But does that make them worthy of public interest? I'm not convinced.
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