Darren of The Common Sense Gamer wants to know “Are Bloggers Press?”. I’ve asked this question several times in my daily bloggings. Are bloggers really considered a part of the Press? I suppose it depends on who you ask. Some blogs out there claim to be “the source” for all your gaming news and announcements in the industry. I suppose if you asked those bloggers they would say that they are indeed press. There are those out there who blog about games and their opinions on what’s happening in the industry. If you were to ask them, I think the majority would deny that they are press. Then there are those who just write about anything and everything from what they ate for breakfast to what they watched on tv that night and I am almost positive they would deny any press relation.
Some bloggers, when answering this question, have said that it takes a certain level of professionalism to cross the line from blogger to journalist. They obviously haven’t read some of the reviews, articles, and other writings from sites that are in fact “press”. The definition of press in the form of journalism is “writing characterized by a direct presentation of facts or description of events without an attempt at interpretation”. There goes 90% of the blogosphere! So it should be clear now that this is truly a subjective question and it holds no weight for “yes or no”. It’s up to the person writing a blog to decide if they are going to have an opinion. Personally, I read blogs for the opinions of others. If I wanted facts I would read a newspaper, the front page of Yahoo, or any other “fact” site.
Now where do I fall into this personally? I’m the type of blogger who writes about games and includes my opinion. I assume that’s why my readers come every day because it’s certainly not for breaking news. Don’t get me wrong though, I do state facts. I will give the information to my readers as absolutely positively accurate as I can before giving my opinion. I believe strongly that misinformation is just as much a crime as disinformation. The sole purpose of this blog has always been to keep our readers informed. We do this by giving information and then interpreting that information how we see it. If a game comes out we’ll tell you; and if it sucks you can expect us to tell you that too. I’m going to pass the buck here and say to my readers it’s up to you. If you feel we are press because of what you read here then we are press. If you feel we are not, then we are not.
Bottom line is that some blogs are trying to be press. We’re not… unless that gets us into the Warhammer Online beta quicker. Hah! I kid, of course… unless it really will get us into beta.
Saying that you are ‘press’ on beta applications is a surefire way of getting yourself not picked. They don’t want press in their beta, they want Average Joe testers.
Si, Cuppy is right. Though Mark James of EA.com tells me that when the NDA gets a little lighter, press folks will be getting into the WAR beta. I did the “right” thing and marked myself as press for my connection to the IGN Vault Network… but I so regret it. I probably could have in by now… waaaaaaaah!
As for are bloggers press? For the vast majority… no. Most of us are simply editorialists. Which is a deliniation of “press”, but we’re certainly straight-up news men. In fact, that’d shy me away from blogging. I blog and read blogs because of the opinions.
We’re amateur journalists, sure, but not press by any stretch of the word. Not in my book, anyway.
I left the press box unchecked on the WAR application. Given that it’s nearing time to let press in to WAR Beta… maybe bloggers really are press… 😉
…certainly NOT…
Forgive the omission of that important word, por favor.
It’s possible Keen.
It’s also possible you’re very very unlucky. 😛
What else is new?!
The majority of ‘press’ tell you what you think you want to hear to one end or another…maybe the term ‘free press’ is something we can claim?