Is blogging a form of publishing? Are bloggers journalists?

According to Webster's, the definition of "publishing" is: "the business or profession of the commercial production and issuance of literature, information, musical scores or sometimes recordings, or art."

That seems to be an old-fashioned definition in that it reserves the term for business or professional activities that are commercial in nature. Today, there are a myriad of online opportunities for someone without a pecuniary interest to publish anything from a short article to a full-length book. Webster would do well to cut the first part of that definition, and make it simply, the "issuance of literature, information, musical scores or sometimes recordings, or art."

The matter of whether bloggers are journalists seems to be more complicated. The First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution gives broad protection from any laws that might abridge the freedom of the press. Many states have "shield" laws that extend protection to allow journalists the right to keep private their sources of information. Some fear that if all bloggers were considered as journalists, that would extend these protections to quite a large group.

Aside from that legal dilemma, Webster defines the term journalist as: "a person engaged in journalism," especially, "a writer or editor for a news medium," or, "a writer who aims at a mass audience," or, "a person who keeps a journal." That seems to leave little room for excluding a blogger from being considered a journalist.

While blogging and bloggers may very well fit within practical definitions of the terms publishing and journalist, it is not hard to discern differences in quality of content between many amateur publishers and bloggers. By contrast, most of their professional counterparts have benefited from education and training that was aimed at enhancing their communication skills and practices. Even many corporate publishers and bloggers seem to lack the publication and journalistic acumen possessed by those whose primary activity is publishing and journalism. As a result, many of the amateurs fail to communicate as well as they could.

This site, pubbies.com, offers an array of information that can be helpful to bloggers and self-publishers interested in boosting the effectiveness of their publishing and journalistic activities. In addition, our sister site, Editors Only, stands as a rich resource for information and advice for improving content.