Alternative Media and Blogs Influences

This past week in class we read articles dealing with war and popular culture and how mainstream media is affected not only through news programs, but now through alternative media, such as blogging. When I first heard of blogging, I didn't know what to think simply because I didn't know how I felt about reading others opinions on certain issues, weather it be about movies, shows, people, or in this case, war. Today people can and do blog about almost anything. What was evidenced in the article we read by Jordan was that blogging can sometimes lack credibility and that readers are more likely to trust what a blogger says, if they either know the blogger through other things they have read or other personal ways. Because people know the blogger, they can trust their blog. So many bloggers, as addressed in the article had their identity, authenticity, and motives questioned by the mainstream press because they think they lacked knowledge and credibility.

Some people just want to get on and be updated, even through blogging, thats where the issue of getting news online comes in. I know as a college student, and always being busy, it is often difficult to catch the news on a daily basis, so I tend to go online and look at important news updates through the archives. The question I wonder is that even if I go on News sites such as CNN.com, does that still hurt the news station? Because I am still getting my information from them, just not through watching it on my television screen. I am technically getting it through alternative media.

My main point here is that blogs to me, are not a bad thing, they have become so popular, and you can read them about almost anything. A lot of times they are very opinionated, so thats where I think mainstream media may want to question the sources and background information. Alternative media has also become popular through the years, and in my opinion I think it helps news stations in some aspects because it makes people want to tune into broadcasts.