Is blogging threatening traditional journalism?

In the 21st century, digital journalism as a mainstream is fast becoming a trend (Kawamoto 2003: 7). Conventional journalism threatened by the popularity of the bloggers has begun to fight back. The Economist Newspaper Limited (2006: 2) states that the Web has allowed anyone with an Internet connection and a keyboard to the exclusive world of qualified media representatives. The popularity of blogging clearly indicates that they are becoming symbols of new media, especially in the today’s contemporary society (Ingram 2007: 1). Therefore, this essay will firstly discuss the positive aspects of blogging that threatened traditional journalism: interactivity, appeal of blogging by consumers, alternative views, ‘anonymousity’ and media ownership (not applicable to blogs). Secondly, this essay will also discuss the negative aspects of blogging advantageous to conventional journalism: misinformation and the ‘ quest of truth’. Lastly, this essay will analyse the solutions that traditional journalism has taken, in order to compete with this new form of journalism.