In hindsight, I really wish I could have attended the “http://seybold2001.manilasites.com/stories/storyReader$64″>Seybold
panel on the role of weblogs (“amateur journalism”) with
regard to the events of 9/11, because I might have asked a
question or two about the utter failure of weblogs as outlets
for objective journalism. True, weblogs served a pivotal purpose
in quickly disseminating information, but that began to wane
almost immediately in the days following 9/11.

Some examples:

– One of my favorite weblogs, which used to be a great source of
info on the attacks, has now descended into a morass of
not-quite-relevant linkage coupled with thinly veiled anti-Arab
invective.

– Another favorite weblogger linked to a recent story about the
outbreak of an Ebola-like hemorrhagic virus on the Pakistan
border, but added his own headline: “A test of bioterrorism?”
The article “http://news.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2001 00:00:00 AM/10/04/wref04.xml”>
plainly states that the first cases of infection were
reported in June, well before 9/11, and the virus is known to
exist in the areas for years; but the extra headline adds a
sensationalist, alarmist tenor that completely changes the
context of the posting.

– Quite a few webloggers have pointed to “http://www.debka.com”>DEBKAFile as a source of information
coming from the Mideast region. It’s pretty obvious to even the
casual reader that DEBKAFile is rather disturbingly biased, in
many cases directly inserting opinion and commentary into
“exclusive” reports cultivated from “military sources.” (The
tagline alone — “we start where the media stop” — is enough to
give one pause) The DEBKAFile meme spread to other weblogs, as
memes often do. (Update: The legitimacy of DEBKAFile is “http://www.metafilter.com/comments.mefi/11167″>now being
debated at MetaFilter, which is itself buckling under the
weight of rampant rumor and conjecture in the wake of 9/11.)

This is all fine and dandy, except for one caveat: it ain’t
news. Webloggers pride themselves on their individual views
and value their right to express them publicly, and well they
should. But I fear the majority of webloggers don’t possess even
a basic grasp of journalistic ethics. And it’s this lack of
understanding that could damage the budding reputation of
weblogs as journalism. You can’t simply change or add
your own headline and expect the context to remain valid (this
is why the media often employs headline editors). You
can’t always add a few lines of personal commentary.
Once you’ve added your voice, it’s simply not news anymore –
it’s opinion. It’s editorial.

And in the cases of the three weblogs mentioned above, it had an
off-putting effect: I personally no longer view those weblogs as
valid news sources.

But that’s the whole idea of a weblog, right? Links of interest,
with personal commentary? Anything else runs contrary to the
spirit of ‘blogging. The whole system is inherently designed so
you can be your own spin doctor, with editorial accountability
and fact-checking completely optional. While weblogs may play a
significant role in promoting amateur journalism, I would argue
that weblogs have quite a way to go before they can be
considered serious journalism. One wonders if, amid the
talk of big media overthrow and revolution, webloggers are at
all interested in becoming more responsible writers and
reporters.

Okay, back to DHTML and JavaScript tomorrow. Promise.

(update: Robert
Scoble has started a “http://webloggerusergroup.manilasites.com/”>weblog user
group in the Silicon Valley area.)

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