PureBlogging

So Technorati has released its annual “State of the Blogosphere” report, and I have to say, the “state” isn’t too bad. I’m not going to get into all the stats here. You can just look at the report.

One thing that I find interesting though, is that according to the report, nearly half of active blogs have some authority. This is really a testament to how blogs have become news sources, despite the old argument of journalism vs “citizen journalism.”

To quote my colleague Jason Miller: “An industry that once scoffed at and discounted blogs has noticeably changed its tune at the direction of lost subscribers. Ninety-five percent of US newspapers have reporter blogs…The Revolution’s fun, huh?”

Much like popular bloggers Robert Scoble and Doc Searls maintained at BlogWorld, citizen journalism should get the credit it deserves, when compared to “journalism”, because journalists misrepresent interviews anyway. For example, they might represent a two-hour interview with a 10 second clip.

Personally, what I like about blogs (for news-related content) is that you’re not just getting relevant info, but your’e getting a human element that is often lacked in hard news articles. Of course this leaves plenty of room for spin, but spin is always present in journalism anyway, and at least with blogs, the spin is not hidden. You know you’re getting “some guy’s (or gal’s)” take on a matter, and not just “the facts” like we would often like to believe we are getting from “the news.”

The blogosphere is bigger than any news network, and it is representative of all sides of the story. That is another thing that I think is appealing about blogs as news sources. Blogs are constantly linking to each other, giving the reader plenty of different takes on any given subject. When you get down to it, you’re simply apt to obtain more information.

The blogosphere is a network of “reporters” working together. Granted, they don’t all like each other, and in some cases may not even approve of the idea of working together, but the ’sphere is connected for better or worse. And the readers get to reap the benefits…and decide for themselves what info to deem credible.

The line between “journalism” and “citizen journalism” has become somewhat blurry when it comes to online news content, but I don’t think this a bad thing. It does emphasize the concept that you should not always believe what you read, but perhaps that is good too. You SHOULDN’T always believe what you read, but with more and more people blogging and covering stories, it is easier to determine the fact from fiction because you just have that many more sources.

Thoughts?

Ok, here are a few stats on global bloggers in graphical form:

Popularity: 7% [?]