I recently posted about the
LISOF Graduate Fashion Shows on The Frock Report. I had been a model in the first show at the event and decided I would blog, predominantly, about the second show and not the first as I had not seen it in its entirety. Surely, I can do this, even when I'm reporting, not blogging, I write only about the shows I've seen and not those I missed.
A reader of the blog then commented, accussing me of being a "pathetic journalist". How I dare I write about one show and not the other? How dare I mention that I had forgotten one of the many designers' names? TimesLIVE.co.za- where the Frock Report appears- was once her trusted source of news and because of my "pathetic" journalism she was having doubts about this now.
Being a trained journalist, I too do feel that a reporter should not forget names. It's an integral part of reporting, but not of blogging. On these pages- and those of the Frock Report- I don't report. Yes, I may give you news, but where as reporting is about the 5W's and H, blogging is a bit more. Blogging is about the person behind the blog and their experiences. We bloggers have no obligation to you to be a trusted source of anything. What I personally do is to try and start debate and strike conversations about fashion. There is no editor to do any fact checking, there is no journalistic code by which I am bound and I therefore feel it is unfair of anyone to read any of my blogs with the purpose of finding journalistic excellence. At work, I'm a journalist, yes. Here, I'm a person just like you, observing and writing. Here, I impart what I can, when I can. This, and the Frock Report, are simply blogs.
When we start expecting bloggers to act like journalists we are treading on thin ice. The two should never be mistaken for the other. Blogs are about people not the public interest. Period!
