This afternoon, I watched a CNN panel discussion (during the CNN World Report Conference) on blogging entitled “Blogging: the Fifth Estate.”

The topics discussed were mostly U.S.-specific, particularly with the

way blogs and blogging have come to shape society and change how people

communicate, such as with the 2004 presidential elections, and how

blogs are both challenging and complementing mainstream media, being

very easy and inexpensive way of getting one’s views published online.

The barriers to entry for publishers and writers have been lowered in

terms of cost.  The barrier now is in terms of readership. 

Sure, you can go online anytime.  Setting up a blog takes up only

five minutes of your time (or even less).  The problem would be how you can get a decent readership and sustain it.  And that would depend on the quality of your content.

Also laid on the discussion table was the hot issue whether bloggers

are journalists.  Questions came up, such as the need to verify

facts, an art and science studied and perfected by seasoned journalists

and media outfits.  Blogs, of course, offer the immediacy–that

ability to publish instantly as things happen, but with this benefit

comes the danger that what you publish may turn out to be wrong later

on.  It was posed that even journalists make mistakes.  And when they do, they apologize and move on.  And it’s best for bloggers to do the same.

And it’s also best for bloggers to take the time to double-check our

facts before publishing.  After all, it’s our reputation that’s at

stake in everything we write.

Blogs and blogging are now big in the west.  I think it’s high

time we get on with that evolution and revolution here in the

Philippines.

Jove Francisco has an excellent writeup on the CNN special.

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