What is the difference between a journalist and a blogger?

[Dances]

Can a blogger just call himself a journalist?

Can a blog declare itself a newspaper?

Is there an accrediated scheme or can any old charlatan say they are a journalist writing for a newspaper?

Blogging is online. I believe it originally came from the term ‘web-log.’ Blogs are generally quite informal and focus on the blogger’s personal life/interests. Journalists tend to collect and report on current events and it’s usually more formal.

If they are paid by an organisation to write then they are a professional writer.

If their writing, no matter how well researched, is on a blog and has elicited no fee then they are a blogger not a journalist.

OOOH! I know this one! It depends on how the person and the "blog/media outlet" in question identifies, right?

Yes but what makes one journalism and the other blogging?

Surely there is accreditation?

*ODFOx

If they are paid by an organisation to write then they are a professional writer.

If their writing, no matter how well researched, is on a blog and has elicited no fee then they are a blogger not a journalist.*

I get paid to write blogs, but I would never consider myself to be a journalist. It's an interesting debate!

I doubt there's any formal distinction between the two. Journalism isn't accredited. Though most people we'd regard as journalists will belong to the NUJ.

That said if you applied for a job with the Guardian claiming to be a journalist and it turned out you were a mummy-blogger with 20 followers you'd be laughed out of town.

Personally I'd say the difference was that a blogger only writes about their own experience and point of view, whereas a journalist would also include the experience and views of others. At least when writing a journalistic, as opposed to op-ed, piece.

OOOH! I know this one! It depends on how the person and the "blog/media outlet" in question identifies, right?

Some so called media outlets really are little more than vanity projects or fronts for lobbying activity.

You tend to find they have very little traction online or reader engagement and the same can be said of their social media where engagement levels are woeful compared with the alleged number of followers they have. Often the only way they can get a boost in clicks is by putting out the worst clickbait articles that attract angry responses.

Sometimes the real purpose of an media org is more about the networking opportunities it provides and access to politicians or other influential people. Many of those people can be easily flattered by an award or a nice dinner.

Are pink news bloggers or journalists then?

You don’t really ‘employ’ a blogger - most of it seems to be self-opinionated brain farts anyway.

Journalists - well it’s more of a craft than a hobby... (usually).

I am an accredited journalist - and I hate being called a blogger!

Journalism is accredited by the NCTJ and BJTC (National Council for the Training of Journalists and Broadcast Journalism Training Council) and I think there might be a couple of other bodies too.

The training and exams are rigorous and include media law, defamation, public affairs, how councils work, how parliament and Govt work + news gathering and writing skills etc.

You can also learn on the job and develop your skills and experience - and I know many excellent journalists who have done so.

I think one of the main issues is whether the person calling themselves a journalist - or claiming their website is a news outlet - recognises journalistic ethics and standards. Such as following the NUJ code of conduct: www.nuj.org.uk/about/nuj-code/ (Sighs at the fact it has mixed up sex and gender in point 9) or agreeing to be regulated: www.ipso.co.uk

If they do neither or ridicule the idea then I'd say they weren't honestly a journalist...

I would think being a card carrying member of the NUJ would help differentiate.

That said if you applied for a job with the Guardian claiming to be a journalist and it turned out you were a mummy-blogger with 20 followers you'd be laughed out of town.

Yes, I suppose a related question this thread brings up is how do you know the actual engagement of anything online? We know, for example, that some bloggers or wannabe social media influencers might do things like buy instagram followers to make themselves look more popular than they really are.

It does make one wonder what sorts of sources to trust.

www.vox.com/2014/9/11/7577585/buy-instagram-followers-bloggers

For me, one pertinent issue (not the only one) is whether the outlet in question is signed up to IPSO.

www.ipso.co.uk/

For all its lack of teeth, a newspaper signed up to IPSO (it's voluntary) does at least show it has some sort of committment to journalistic standards, fact checking, cross-checking against more than one source, issuing corrections and retractions, and is subjecting its editorial policy and journalistic standards to some sort of independent scrutiny.

Something that styles itself "News" but doesn't belong to IPSO is probably taking the piss, and as others have said upthread, is little more than a vanity project.

The other site I find useful is www.ipso.co.uk/ which gives an assessment of both place on the political spectrum and factual accuracy. It's very good for working out what angle someone has to grind when you see a random link posted on here. Having said that, the site itself is left-leaning and sometimes cocks up. For example there are some left-of-centre news sites it lists which it seems to give a free pass to as regards factual accuracy. It's generally more accurate in distinguishing reputable right of centre from makes-shit-up far right and barking mad conspiracy theorist ultra-right. I think it lacks nuance and objectivity when it comes to assessing its own side of the political fence.

Also if you want a press card - sometimes needed by reporters, newsgatherers et al who 'go out on stories' or want to use the press benches in courts for example - then you need to be accredited by your publication, or via the NUJ or Society of Editors (again I think there are others) and for a freelancer to get that accreditation you need to prove you earn your living by being a journalist. As far as I know writing a personal blog would not enable you to get a press card!

@bellinisurge

I would think being a card carrying member of the NUJ would help differentiate.

I am one of those - but if you write on your own website as well as for mags, newspapers etc - it seems people will still call you a blogger. Hence my 'grrrr'!

It’s not easy to get a press card. I know a (award winning) photojournalist who was having a bugger of a time to get here.

So, if you are reading something online, how do you know if it is a properly researched professional piece/collection of work, or just the ramblings of someone with an axe to grind?

Presumably some of them get money from elsewhere with which to grind their axe? So they could look the part?

Hard to tell sometimes! The standards in some newspapers is appalling!

@Melroses

So, if you are reading something online, how do you know if it is a properly researched professional piece/collection of work, or just the ramblings of someone with an axe to grind?

Presumably some of them get money from elsewhere with which to grind their axe? So they could look the part?

Cross check, cross check and more cross check.

If it's a one-person blog, check for professional background (linked in, insitutional affiliations, etc.)

If it's a site which carries a variety of pieces by a variety of authors, check the bona-fides of the site itself.

Can you find any other sources that back up their views?

Do they include references where they allude to alleged facts?

Are they suffering from "grad-student-itis" in that the only other sources they cite are in fact other blogposts by themselves? Or only other blogs which are one-man-bands and don't cite any references either?

And of course that spidey sense that just says "something's off here... I'm reading the rantings of a monomaniac."

Read widely yourself so you have enough background knowledge that you think "hmm, that contradicts something I've read elsewhere... which one's right?"

@OldCrony

Are pink news bloggers or journalists then?

Propagandists.

Ha ha
Interesting that Pink News writes vicious hit pieces on JKR with impunity but the CEO goes crying to Justine when women talk about his demanding that the government enable access to women's bodies for surrogacy.

Journalism, blogging or bullying?

That said if you applied for a job with the Guardian claiming to be a journalist and it turned out you were a mummy-blogger with 20 followers you'd be laughed out of town.

The problem is that there are fewer and fewer properly paid jobs in journalism. They might not put you on the payroll, but they would probably be happy to publish something you had written, if you were cheap.