During my time in London, I interned at a company called Prospect Pictures. Prospect pictures is a small independent television production company that comes up with new ideas for documentaries, reality television shows and news stories. I was a researcher there, and one of the story ideas was of young bloggers and the impact that they are having on today's world.
The documentary idea was to base the documentary off of young, now 15-year-old blogger Tavi Gevinson, whose blog "Style Rookie" became popular when she was only 13. Researching more into what she does and how she is perceived made me respect her and "citizen journalists" that much more. Although she may be a mere 15-year-old girl blogging about her opinion on designers and their fashion lines, she is well-respected by top fashion designers as a serious fashion critic -- they want her critiquing their lines, because she has a large fan base.
I understand the issue that citizen journalists pose -- they are not trained and sometimes they don't know how to write well, but despite that, their opinions and their presence has not only made a huge impact in today's society, but has helped expose the online world to many new things. Although some journalists may look down upon bloggers such as Tavi Gevinson, they are doing writing at what they are passionate about, and they are succeeding.
Bloggers such as Tavi Gevinson and Bryan Boy are surpassing the popularity and respectability of even the top fashion magazines, such as W, Vanity Fair, etc. A lot of this comes from the fact that not only are the passionate about what they are doing, they are independent, they don't have anyone to answer to. They give their true critique and people respect them for it. Unlike top fashion magazines, they don't have any obligation to cast designers or their fashion lines in a positive light. Not only that, but people around the world feel more personally connected to bloggers such as Tavi Gevinson. This could open a whole new world, more than it already has.
With bloggers starting up so young, it allows for much more success, and a new generational revolution, where young bloggers are where fashion experts and people that are passionate about fashion go to get their information instead of to magazines -- not only when it comes to fashion, but young bloggers are already succeeding in stock advice sites, ways to create a business, etc. Although this is already happening, there is still a lot of room for it to grow.
This doesn't only come with young bloggers, but bloggers and citizen journalists in general. Although mainstream journalists may look down upon them, whether it be because they are jealous and feel that bloggers are inferior to them, or whether they just feel that they should be qualified journalists, they need to accept the fact that this is a growing art. It is more respected every day.
Yes, there are citizen journalists that probably should think again about the content that they post, and the way that they write, but with both the good and bad, citizen journalists and bloggers are making a huge impact on journalism, especially online.
I feel that bloggers like Tavi Gevinson and Bryan Boy should be given the chance to succeed, just like any editor in a high fashion magazine. I understand that they feel they had to work harder to climb the ladder and to get where they are today, but people like Tavi Gevinson also worked hard to not only get a fan base, but also to maintain her credibility and to stay independent. This is true for not only her, but many bloggers around the world like Glen Greenwald, Amy Goodman, etc. They may be bloggers, but they are well-respected bloggers and are even seen as journalists. They should be given the same respect as a mainstream journalist, if not more.
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