Who is a Journalist?

Journalism has evolved since its beginnings, but its rate of change has increased exponentially within the last few years. During my freshman year at BYU in 2003, I was one of the first people I knew to have a blog. I wrote my personal commentary about politics and the upcoming 2004 presidential election. At one point, I would have as many as thirty people a day, some of whom I knew, others I didn't, following what I said about the day's political news. In at least some small way, I was having an influence on others, and my opinions on politics actually mattered. How could that have been possible even ten years ago?

Today's media has changed to the point that organizations, businesses, and governments have changed the way that they release information to the public. They are now accountable to a much larger group of people, and no longer can a few phone calls keep a story from breaking. Bloggers near the inside of an important story have nothing to lose and don't belong to a company that tells them what to write about. We are our own bosses.

So who is a journalist? Really, anyone that knows how to use a computer, set up a blog, and communicate their ideas to the world. Of course, most of those on the internet don't really have anything noteworthy to say, but you don't have to work for a television station or a newspaper to break a story or to analyze a political story. When everyone has access, the public gets a purer story and more varied opinions. When eveyone is a journalist, the public wins.