BLOGGING SCHMOGGING! by Camagwini Dolweni

So here's the deal, let me just put it out there: I don't take blogging as serious journalism. There's no pathos needed for that, its a fact. Finnish and klaar. I feel like this 'new media' journalism is watering down the fundamentals of pure journalism and it just not hot. The craft of journalism is to inform, entertain and be a social commentator of the world we are living in. It is not your personal diaryhttp://mushypeasontoast.blogspot.com/2006/03/worst-day-of-my-life.html or where you write about what you did 5 minutes ago (i.e Tweeter) or to be abused as a space for your own personal agenda. You want to push your agenda, talk to Noeleen or Oprah. New media journalists can claim that the print is becoming obsolete and with the changing times, it only inevitable for innovative ways of reporting to infiltrate. Granted. If you are actually reporting. How many South Africans have access to computers, let alone the Internet or how to even use it?? I take it not many, so as a result new media journalism is elitist journalism, that only the privileged majority have admittance to. If the news are for a small group of people, then what is the point? It is only going to circle the same crowd. How is that going to spark debates, fulfill the watchdog role or do any of the things it is really supposed to do other than be a plaything for the rich? The true quality of journalism has been trumped by the quantity of blogs, tweets, online papers and whatever else is bound to follow.