Bloggers vs. Mainstream Media

If 2017 has proved anything to us, it’s that bloggers and social media users hold more power than we ever could have imagined. From live-blogging and live-tweeting to unexpected eyewitnesses, there are so many methods of sharing information that stretch far beyond the traditional reporter and newspaper. 

This is the point Washington Post writer Howard Kurtz makes in his piece, “After Blogs Got Hits, CBS Got a Black Eye.” His main example is of 53-year-old Scott Johnson, a lawyer in Minnesota who posted a blog claiming that documents used by “60 Minutes” on its report about President Bush’s Air National Guard service were falsified. His post about the documents went viral and everybody had their own two sense to add. One of the commenters, Charles Johnson, pointed out the power of bloggers. He said, “We've got a huge pool of highly motivated people who go out there and use the tools to find stuff. We've got an army of citizen journalists out there.”

Kurtz points out that among the multiple investigations led by amateur bloggers across the country, many of them were reaching audiences larger than that of some newspapers. Not only are these bloggers responsible for exposing so many coverups, but they have also taken up the role of fact-checker for many mainstream media outlets. Bloggers have become well-known for putting these media outlets in their place, and revealing mistake after mistake made by the mainstream media. 

The only problem that comes from this seemingly perfect system is that not all bloggers are out to right the wrongs of mainstream media. Many bloggers are biased and have their own agendas and see that they are carried out using any means necessary, including false information and slanted opinions.