Has Blogging Affected the Media and Print Industry?

  My name is April MacPherson and I am a psychology student at College of the Canyons. I am blogging today to do a research assignment on what else, blogging! Blogging has become an increasingly popular tool to the masses for many reasons. Some people like to express opinions or feelings through personal blogs. Others use blogs to report certain issues or world affaires. This new trend has interconnected people on a more advanced level of social networking and could be having a major impact on media as we know it.

This leads me to the question of whether or not blogging can be a credible source of information. Many might believe that blogging is just as effective or credible as opening up your daily newspaper, or even tuning into news programs on television. According to wikipedia , "Some institutions see blogging as a way of getting around the filter" which means that blogging can be a more direct way of reporting information. Others fear that blogs are not a credible aspect of the media. While opinions differ, it is known that many journalists have started to utilize blogging instead of going through the print industry. 

   Is blogging effective? According to problogger.net "good writing is good writing" and composing a good blog brings in the readers. Our society has become very digital in the last several years and we have seen more and more often people turning on their computers to read the news or do everyday necessities like paying bills or booking hotels (anything, you name it).

 Furthermore, how much has blogging affected the media? It seems that blogging has in fact been a reason that the media industry is declining. According to onlinejournalismblog.com

blogging has not only affected the media itself, it has also had an impact on journalists careers.Many journalists have claimed that blogging has provided a great deal of opportunity for them, as well as a certain amount of freedom.  This has caused many journalists to lean more towards blogs than print media. Overall it really seems like blogging is taking the media by storm.

In my opinion I really do believe that blogging will become a regular aspect of the media as it continuously gains popularity. Being a college student, I'm always doing research online looking for articles to aid me in writing papers and if blogs become a valuable source it would make life much easier!