Blogging

"While it is usually unimportant whether we regard a blogger as a journalist or not, there are times when it really matters. These legal definitions show that blogging and other forms of user-created media are causing us to redefine the nature of journalism itself. It remains to be seen whether legal definitions of journalism and blogging are necessary in other countries" ( 91).

This quote is referring to the passages above it, in which the author states two other quotes. The first quote is the 2005 version of the legal definition of a journalist, and the second is the 2006 version. The quote I stated above is essentially saying that the shift in the legal definition for journalism is being effected by new forms of journalism; in this instance the new form of journalism is blogging.The context of the quote and Rettberg's passages before it suggest a new definition was formed, because of legal issues between whether or not the inclusion of media such as blogs is accepted to what is traditionally know as journalism.

In my reading, however, I felt the first definition was broad and had a few holes that would already allow blogging to be considered journalistic. The intention of the change in the second seemed to suggest the same, but with less specific examples and the added clause of it having to be a salaried profession. Rettberg does not really touch on the issue. I think it is important to note that many bloggers can acquire steady wages for their blogs, although they are hardly different from those who publish for personal pleasure. Some are payed on an advertisement based revenue like most local newspapers, but are apparently not considered journalists because that revenue goes directly to them instead of trickling down from a higher up in the form of an hourly wage.