Journalist + Blogger=....Jogger?!

It seems as though the infamous journalist vs blogger wrestling match has ceased fire, according to a simple Google search I did that led me to 10 links stating so. After my interview with Professor Alves, I left with the impression that the line between journalist and blogger is blurring. He stated the example of how the NYTimes recently hired a blogger to work under their umbrella. I also recently read an article about how bloggers are now hiring traditional reporters.

And I can see how we've come to this point. In the beginning of the blogging age, journalists were probably peeved that there were untrained people thinking they knew how to do the job of someone who went to school. Especially when you have the bloggers who like to call bs on the media. But I think as time progressed, they grudgingly had to accept the fact that 1) some bloggers have a point and 2) joining forces with them was better than going against them. Especially when you have blogs with a devoted audience.

It's more difficult to distinguish the two today. The NYTimes has over 100 blogs: some belong to their hired reporters and some who started off as citizen journalists. I think that in about a couple of years, we won't question the distinction between the two because they will have become so intertwined in immersed in each other's little bubble of existence that they will just be called journalism.

Thoughts?