Here’s a piece from a blog called White African which touches on the infamous question: When does a blogger become part of the media?

What caught my eye in this post was the following statement:

I recently attended an event as “press/media”. They wanted me to cover their event because they wanted to reach my readership. Honestly, I couldn’t tell any big difference between myself and the traditional journalists in the room - other than their cameras were bigger.

The fact is that the gap between citizen journalism and traditional elite publications is getting smaller by the second – or perhaps every four seconds when it is estimated that a new blog is created. Blogging is the media of the 21st century, and I am convinced that it will dominate how we receive our information for years to come. This fact scares the folks who have built their life using the traditional methods. The fact that someone can write something and hit ‘publish’ and instantly become part of ‘the media’ still baffles some. Blogging continues to gain steam and has become such a huge information medium, people are just now starting to realize that they can capitalize off the popularity.

The online medium is much more than the sum of its current parts. It’s more than a bunch of silly commentary, YouTube videos and unaccredited citizen journalism – it’s the birth of a brand new independent art movement. Artists – in the traditional sense – create on a blank canvas; bloggers craft in a blank text box.

But in the end, ideas will always rise and fall on their own merits. The forum for innovative brainstorming will be around forever and a day – and the conversation will be continually expanded. For years, the local newspaper was not only the source of news, but it was the spark that carried on the fire of community conversation.

In today’s new media world, everyone can become a journalist not only to talk about news per se, but about anything they want… and if they are happy to talk about it, well, other people will always be happy to listen.

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