Are bloggers journalists?

Blogging and social media have an effect on everything nowadays. It extends past helping us decide what’s trending when it comes to food and fashion—now it even influences our view on politics. We live in a time when bloggers have been given government positions for being good at what they do—for example Margaux Justiniano “Mocha” Uson went from ardent supporter of President Rodrigo R. Duterte over her social media accounts to assistant secretary of the Presidential Communications Operation Office (PCOO) while RJ Nieto of the ThinkingPinoy blog became consultant for social media of Department of Foreign Affairs Secretary Alan Peter S. Cayetano, who was Mr. Duterte’s running mate during the elections.

Some people have turned to bloggers like Ms. Uson and Mr. Nieto for information on the inner workings of government, due to a certain feeling of disgruntlement towards news media. For these people, Ms. Uson’s and Mr. Nieto’s pieces are sources of news. But when bloggers report the news, does this make them journalists?

In a forum at the Far Eastern University entitled “The Moment of Truth: The Challenge of Social Media” last August 30, veteran journalists could not come to a consensus on whether or not a blogger can count as a journalist.

For Roby Alampay, editor‑in‑chief of both print newspaper  and online news platform , what the person is doing takes precedence over who he or she is.

It’s not important to say that he or she is a journalist, blogger or citizen reporter. The more important thing is the verb, not the noun. For me ‘Are they practicing journalism?’ is a better question to ask.

Mr. Alampay clarified that journalism is a process that requires not only doing research, going out to get information from multiple sources, doing interviews, writing and publishing, but also having someone edit and fact check your work before it is published.

On the other hand,  (CMFR) Chairperson Vergel O. Santos, former editor of the Manila Times and former director of the Philippine News Agency (PNA) adamantly said: “No, blogging is not journalism, no matter what they say.”

Journalism is an organized enterprise and backed by a number of principles, skills and disciplines. Journalism is a craft. Blogging doesn’t need any of that, all you need is the internet. This is not journalism.

No matter what your stance on the issue is, it’s undeniable that social media has become a part of our daily lives and how we consume news media. And we all have that one relative who keeps sharing legitimate looking news from fake news sites no matter how many times we correct them.

That is why CMFR Executive Director, Melinda Quintos De Jesus believes that media literacy is an important skill that should be taught in schools. “One response to fake new is to open up the field of education to intense, internal review,” Ms. De Jesus said. Media too, she added, has a role in curbing fake news and getting readership back.

If media is part of the problem then it must be part of the solution, but it can not change itself on its own. It can not transform unless society wants it to.

Atty. Melencio S. Santa Maria, dean of FEU Institute of Law and columnist for Interaksyon, said that even if media is currently being criticized for it’s alleged biases, it is not the role of media to be neutral. “The Constitution is not neutral, it was designed to take the government off the backs of people,” the attorney explained. “As the Constitution is not neutral, the press that it protects should not be neutral.”

The press should be provocative, compelling and at times antagonistic, disturbing, skeptical and annoying as it can be. The press is our constitutional watchdog. It should not abdicate its role as a fierce watchdog.

As veteran journalists continue to debate on where journalism and its players stand in the quickly evolving landscape of social media, the duty to be discerning and at times skeptical falls to us who consume it. And if there’s one thing all these journalists could agree on, it’s that at the end of the day, journalists should always report the truth.