Citizen Columnists

Many bloggers have been called and some even like to banty about the term "citizen journalism" or "citizen journalists."

I don't think that's an accurate, or best term to describe it. (Technically, maybe, but I'll get to that later.)

Actually, bloggers are "citizen columnists." Right?

Blogs are mostly opinions and comments on news. Not really primary news. Isn't that what columnists do? Comment? Opine? Speculate?

The other main classification of how bloggers blog is by providing links to news media and other blogs. (In keeping with the journalism jargon, let's call these "calendar of events" blogs.)

Granted, since columnists are a subset of journalists, technically, bloggers can be called citizen journalists. But, "citizen columnists" is more accurate. For a citizen journalist, you'd expect some news. Something that you can't really find elsewhere, correct?

NOTE: I've never heard the term before, and initially thought it was my own brainstorm. But, I'm wrong. Regardless who coined the phrase, it still it more accurate than citizen journalists.

The only exception to the rule is when bloggers post interviews. I've done it (okay, just once). POP! PR's Jeremy Pepper has done it often. Even Microsoft's Robert Scoble has done it. And, I know other bloggers have, too.

Really, other than these interviews, the only true citizen journalism site I know of is OhMyNews.com.

Am I dead on? Or, am I slicing hairs and being picky?

--Mike

Technorati tags: Citizen Journalism, OhMyNews, POP! PR, Scoble