Surprise! Journalism can sometimes be elitist

This won’t take many of you by surprise, but journalism can be a fairly elitist profession.
We don’t get rich and, unless we really screw up (you should Google the names Stephen Glass and Jayson Blair for some interesting reading) we usually retire with anonymity.
But that doesn’t mean the industry isn’t protective of its power.
There’s been an on-going debate for years now about the relevance of “bloggers,” that new breed of journalist that answers to no master. The problem with bloggers is that they have no code of ethics and are accountable to no one.
But that is also their greatest strength.
This isn’t an argument in support of the waning relevance of print media. Instead, I suggest that bloggers, print journalists and their superficial television counterparts are all part of the same machine. The media look different, but they are designed to accomplish the same goal.
People use newspapers for different reasons. Some want the front page news, some want the ads. Others want to read about weddings and engagements, while some — the rarest of reader — will consume the entire publication from start to finish.
Millions of dollars have been spent on studies to determine how and why people read a newspaper, and all they have been able to conclusively prove is that habits change from person to person.
Watching the traffic swell at our website in recent weeks I’ve noticed that those readers, as well, also use our digital counterpart for different reasons. Many of those who read sports, for example, don’t travel far from our sports page.
Which brings me back to the idea of blogs: a segment of our online readership doesn’t live in Pageland, but still have a rabid interest in their former community.
Our blog might look different than our print edition, but they share content, staff and intent.
Watching bloggers get pushed aside by the mainstream media reminds me much of the way so-call “third party” political groups get dismissed by Republicans and Democrats. All of them are threatened by these interlopers and insist on trying to shut them out instead of learning why these new ideas appeal to people.
Last week, I received an e-mail from The Shot, which detailed how they were shut out of an ETV show with Sen. Glenn McConnell.
“We decided to attend this event because it was about the impact of blogs on the legislative process and well … we are a blog,” the letter read. “Even more important, we are a blog that covers politics and we very frequently discuss the impact of new media on politics.”
They weren’t deemed to be “credentialed press” and were not allowed to attend, even though they were part of the week’s subject for discussion.
This isn’t meant to be an endorsement for the content of The Shot. It is an endorsement for their right to participate in the discourse of public information. These weren’t people who tried to keep their identities anonymous. It appears they arrived and conducted themselves as any other member of the press might.
Unfortunately, the mainstream still doesn’t recognize digital media as a legitimate media.
“They kicked the bloggers out of an event about bloggers,” the letter read. “Ironic? Stupid? We think so. To say we are insulted would be a HUGE understatement.”
I couldn’t agree more.

Wallace McBride is editor of The Progressive Journal.