A Journalist I am not, apparently – April's A to Z Blogger Challenge April 12, 2011 “J”

Journalists exist on a different level of existence, out here on the web, from folks like me. We bloggers offer up what we see, hear, feel, and taste, while professional journalists know the difference between reading “active,” or “passive.”

We bloggers try to share funny jokes, while journalists are served up on the other half-page, with that day's comic. A real journalist had to go to school. Reporters, photographers, editors, titlers, web-site design and implementation, all have to go through some sort of extra training, or otherwise specialized school, while we bloggers just sorta make our way to the publication, by what we've learned by ear. We're mouths where there otherwise is no qualification for one.

As long as our sources are backed up, and a blogger avoids out-and-out defamation or libel, there's not too much a blogger won't cover. We'll do restaurant reviews, product evaluations, opinion polls, amateurish, non-scientific opinion polls, and interviews. We'll cover those topics we must, in order to get what page views we're able. The competition is huge. The competition is tough. The critics are mechanically harsh.

Real journalists ensconce themselves in positions of public platforms, where they remain free of rebuttal, commentary - or most-feared - questions. Actual real-world professional journalists have the good sense to speak from a position of public “authority,” while still ignoring the commentary from the general populace. We bloggers make it all into a part of our leathered souls.

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