SALZMAN: Bloggers, reveal yourselves

Readers should know what they're getting, and from whom

By Jason Salzman, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)

Friday, March 28, 2008

Blog transparency. Are bloggers journalists? The best answer I've seen comes from Dan Gillmor, who writes in PR Week Feb. 25 that "the question is roughly the equivalent of asking whether people who write on paper are journalists."

Most bloggers, like most people who write on paper, aren't journalists. So their work shouldn't be held to the same journalistic standards that Denver's daily newspapers should meet - standards such as basic fairness, accountability, independence and others, as articulated, for example, by the Society of Professional Journalists.

But whether bloggers think they are practicing journalism or not, their blogs should inform people about the information they're getting.

Who's behind the blog? What's the purpose? Does the blogger have a political bias? Is the blogger trying to practice journalism? If so, what are his or her standards?

If the blog is anonymous or allows anonymous postings, it should explain why anonymity is allowed.

Bloggers who provide this information are doing us all a favor because it could help some people evaluate the different types of information they consume. It could help some people understand what journalism is....See full story

Below is my comment to the above article:


Posted by wdmll on April 1, 2008 at 12:38 p.m. (Suggest removal)

I'm a blogger and I have been blogging for over a year. The following is an example of my articles (postings):

It is a distressing day Muslims now outnumber Roman Catholics, therefore Islam is the largest faith in the world. This is not taking into account the different subsets of Christianity or Islam... Read Full Story

wdmll http://www.zimbio.com/Non-Politically+Co...

I first created a blog on http://wdmll.blogspot.com/. Next, I created a blog on http://wdmll.wordpress.com/. After that, I went to helium.com where I was rated or critiqued by the other writers. The following is one of my writings on helium.com and was rated #1.

http://www.helium.com/items/748925-clash...

helium.com followed up with an e-mail praising my budding talent. I now have numerous articles on Zimbio, where I have a Web magazine (Zine) called the “Non-Politically Correct View of America’s Crisis”. It has only been on Zimbio for a couple months but it has already been featured. Zimbio has about 40 million hits a year. I have also posted on:

http://www.glendalecherrycreek.com/newsb... (comments)

http://my.barackobama.com/page/community... “wdmll” (for my articles)

http://www.newsweek.com/id/84271/output/... plus other article comments on newsweek.com (you will find comments by wdmll)

Also if you search with comcast.net, http://www6.comcast.net/a/ and search “wdmll” , you will find over a page of links.

So if you were to give me a piece of paper and ask me to write something, an hour later I would still be sitting there with a blank sheet of paper. I can’t spell and my vocabulary is limited. I haven't had any journalism classes, let alone courses in English composition, grammar or writing. I believe I’m dyslexic and so what I write doesn’t look like what I thought I was thinking.

I do have scientific publications, oral presentations and Web presentations under my belt. See my Web site: http://www.wdmll.com/

Because I haven’t proof read this many times, you will probably find it full of errors. So why do I blog? I’m retired and I feel like I’m invisible, after 40 or so years of being someone in my field (or I thought I was), I’m basically sitting here at my computer as time passes by. I still workout with weights and exercise but keeping the mind busy is a task. I don’t like to read other than finding information on the Web. I have always had an interest in history and politics. I keep on top of things by TV, radio and the Web.

In conclusion, here I am, your blogger exposed to the world. Make of me what you want, I don’t care, I am what I am. If you find me uneducated, lacking in writing skills and totally biased, so be it. I’m to the right but I try to look to the other side at times and I believe some of my writings (postings) will bare me out.

Wdmll                The non-politically correct blogger