The changing media environment created though the introduction of the Internet was highlighted this morning at the Highway Africa 2007 Conference, in a debate between Sunday Times columnist Fred Khumalo, and Mail & Guardian online strategist Vincent Maher.
"Columnists are dinosaur bloggers," said Maher, adding that in some ways bloggers are influencing the regulation of content and the various forms of news being disseminated through the Internet.
"There are about 25 000 South African blogs on the Internet, of which 3 000 are consistently active, if Arthur Goldstuck's research is anything to go by."
However, Xolani Gwala, SABC radio personality and chair of the discussion, questioned the contribution and value of the bloggersphere's input to society and journalism.
"Many good bloggers will become primary sources for journalists," said Maher. "It's a different genre of journalism and just like you have bad journalists, you have bad bloggers."
Khumalo, who recently started his own blog, said: "It is true we are on the cusp of a new generation of writing, one that traditionalists are definitely trying to resist. But there is no particular control over the blog."
Traditional media follows best practice standards and are regulated through various bodies that provide them with a higher level of credibility, he added.
"I am not saying there should be a big brother controlling these things, because they are influencing debates where traditional media has been hamstrung. The problem is accountability and quality control."
However, Maher says gate-keeping and regulation in the bloggersphere wears a different mask to traditional media. "Readers choose which blogs they are interested in and authenticity of blog work is generally well checked by those readers," he said. New forms of technological gate-keeping mechanisms are now emerging to control new media, he noted.
Khumalo also felt the blog was much more ephemeral than traditional columns: "Newspapers have something of a shelf-life, where online tends to be more fleeting."
A Zimbabwean radio journalist pointed out to delegates that for most Zimbabwe media practitioners, blogging is the only platform left for them to explore.
Maher added to this: "In talking about the question of quality and credibility, who would you believe more? The state-owned Zimbabwean press, or the bloggers who are experiencing the crisis first hand?"
He says the biggest difference lies in the passion: "Bloggers don't do it for money. And yes, at the moment, it is the Wild West, but the Internet has always been a disruptive technology."
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