Blogging, Journalism and the Role of Media

Over at Pennywit, Pennywit is engaged in an excellent discussion about the nature and purpose of blogging. Their first post analyzed whether blogging was a supplement to or a replacement for mainstream media. The second post is a superb follow-up to another blogger’s thoughts.

Pennywit believes the mainstream media is vital and is usually very good. Most blogs are, in Pennywit’s opinion, a lesser form of journalism, if they can be considered journalism at all. It’s a fascinating discussion and one we urge you to check out.

For the record, The Yellow Line is very grateful for the work of the mainstream media. Without them, we would have very few facts to work with. Yes, sometimes the mainstream media makes mistakes and sometimes stories are biased. But the vast number of reporters and editors are hardworking and honest.

Here at The Yellow Line, our role is not to provide just-the-facts news. Our role is to comment on and analyze the news, to delve deep into the political, moral, humanistic and, yes, sometimes humorous aspects of major stories or stories we feel should be major. And we do this from a centrist viewpoint—the middle balance we feel is necessary in a blogosphere too-filled with shrill rhetoric and partisan mimicry. But we’re not journalists. We’re bloggers—and that’s a media role we feel complements and does not oppose other media sources.

We commend Pennywit for calling a spade a spade. And we thank The Moderate Voice for giving us the tip on this great piece.