Will all bloggers play by same rules as journalists?

Just in case you haven’t noticed, the Internet has turned everything on its head. And I don’t just mean things like porno (some suggest that four of 10 teenagers frequent the ‘net for pornography on a regular basis) and shopping (enough money is exchanging on the Internet that politicians are worried about tax losses).

No, what has my ears crrently tingling is just the good old exchange of information, or to be more precise, what we now refer to as journalism. Not that journalism was ever as clear as your Sunday dinner crystal, but now blogging and RSS and a seemingly daily infusion of changes are sneaking into the mix of information into which we can tap. RSS, as I understand it, stands for “rich site summary,” though some say it stands for “really simple syndication” — see, the confusion already begins — and allows those tapped in to receive quasi-constant updates regarding a subject(s) of their choice on their computer or hand-held communication device.

Then there is this blogging idea. Blogging is when persons set up their own diary-like summaries on the ‘net or use a bulletin board-like concept to post information or comments or criticisms or “inside dope” about any subject from aardvarks to zebras. And, shock of shocks, people actually read and utilize these blogs. Blogging as a concept and information source, of course, gained its sea legs when someone watched the “60 Minutes” report on Pres. Bush’s national guard service and picked up on a possible error in CBS’s report, leading to a retraction by Dan Rather and crew. So a lot of bloggers started to think they could act like journalists.

So here’s an up-and-coming company — we’ll call it Weber Widgets. Theoretically, dozens of folks could set up blogs about WW. Some might be disgruntled former employees talking about nasty inside stuff, some true, some rumor; some might be customers, talking about how bad they hate the product; some might be customers who love WW and share ideas on how to better use the product. And some might be employees of the company, writers hired to keep the ever-flowing information productive and positive.

The Wall Street Journal reports that it is a growing concept for larger companies to hire writers to blog — check on existing blogs and start new ones — and steer conversations in ways to benefit the company. Bottom line: trace a blog back to its source and you may find a guy with three teeth sitting on a barstool or you may find a Ph.D. with insightful information. I guess anyone can act like a journalist.

So here’s your local city council. They meet on Tuesday night and a newspaper report comes out the next morning on what happened. Heck, someone can set in the back of the room and post a blog on what happened 10 minutes after it happens. Some bloggers wait until the printed record in the newspaper of what happened and then post their reactions to the journalist’s story — what was right, what was wrong, what really happened, what it means to someone with the same bent or special interest as the blogger. Why you should subscribe to their blog, not the paper.

Sense the confusion? Generally speaking, journalists are trained not to care and practice being impartial and objective, doing their best — I believe — to show all sides to an issue. Bloggers, generally speaking, mind you, are under no such journalistic umbrella. They often have selfish interests, a personal bias strong enough to cause them to want to sit on the back row of the council chambers, and an audience of readers that may only want the “left side” or the “right side” of the goings-on.

What will become of all this information? With so many voices, will there be any voices to trust?

I thought of all these things recently when I visited the Crandall Museum of Printing in Provo. If you are ever stuck in Provo for a couple of hours with nothing to do (and I know that is the feeling I have most every time I am in Provo), you will find this marvelous experience waiting at 275 East Center Street. Don’t drive too fast, because you’ll miss the simple-looking building hidden in the trees. Inside is what just might be the largest and most complete single museum presentation of the Gutenberg printing press in the world.

There is also a replica of the Philadelphia print shop of Benjamin Franklin. You will get lost in history as Louis Crandall and his small staff demonstrate the equipment used by E. B. Grandin of Palmyra, NY, to print the Book of Mormon. The information you will get about the printing and binding of scriptures (just printing the pages was only half the battle, remember) will cause your jaw to drop.

And in the middle of understanding the world-changing impact of the Gutenberg press, I wondered if anyone in 1450 worried about the long-term impact that so many voices would have on their lives. In his wildest dreams, Gutenberg could not have imagined a blogger with a handheld instantaneously doing a cheap version of what he spent his life perfecting.

But I am an information optimist. I will continue to believe that the more information, the better. Thomas Jefferson said if the populace does not have enough information to make wise decisions, take not from them the power to choose, but give them more information.

But behind my back, my fingers are crossed, because of that guy with three teeth.