The process of using Web logs, or blogs, started out as a way for people to express themselves to as wide an audience as would read them.
Now it's hard to go to a major news or sports Web site without being able to easily access one of the writer's personal blogs.
They're everywhere.
A few colleges across Michigan incorporated blogging into their journalism programs, but professors at these schools realize the potential exists for a number of flaws to creep into any blogger's post.
"Blogging offers an immediacy that print newspapers can't keep up with," MSU Editor in Residence Garry Gilbert said. "This offers interaction for the reader who wants to carry on the conversation and be connected to the reporter in some way."
Writing a note or typing up an e-mail to an editor or reporter was a traditional way to provide feedback. A response may or may not have come after that.
The Internet has changed that. Lightning-fast servers and the amount of work done online in newsrooms gives the reader an opportunity for a much quicker response on blog message boards.
"You can always write an article to an editor," Gilbert said. "But being able to respond to your favorite sports columnist and have that information posted quickly, for everyone to see, including that columnist, is unbelievable."
Some colleges in Michigan have incorporated this form of instant publishing into their journalism classrooms.
"We do this at MSU because it is crucial to produce students who are flexible and have a wide variety of skills," Gilbert said. "Someone may be a good writer, but can they do things with a video camera? Can they create a successful blog? Can they talk their way through a story? All of these factors need to be kept in mind in order to become the most successful journalist possible."
Professors at Central Michigan University keep the expanding methods of news delivery in mind when creating course curriculum as well because they believe that journalism students should be aware of this medium, Assistant Professor Dr. Yun Jung Choi said.
"I teach an introduction to new media course in which we, as a class, discuss why or why not blogging is a form of journalism," Choi said. "Many believe that it depends on what kind of writing it is. Generally, it's good because it provides alternative aspects that mainstream media sometimes leaves out."
Sue Ellen Christian, an assistant professor of journalism at Western Michigan University, said there is definitely a place for blogging in the media, but there are flaws attached.
"Sometimes, blogging is just a comment on the news and not an actual story that reports facts," Christian said. "They can enrich our understanding of the news if we see them in that light, but the world needs well-balanced and well-reported news stories, and blogs don't always accomplish that."
Anyone can write a blog, so there is no guarantee the facts have been verified.
"People who write them are not trained," Choi said. "They don't check the facts, they are not objective."
Regardless of all the negatives in blogging, some people still feel the need to put their voice out there.
"Everyone wants their 15 minutes of fame," Jane Briggs-Bunting, director of MSU's School of Journalism, said.
"On a YouTube video, you can become a celebrity. Most blogs are worthless and they are usually rants, and those who never have a forum get these because they are free."
