Journalism is a dying industry; the evidence is all around us. StudLife is used as last minute wrapping paper for Secret Santa presents, and our own school doesn’t offer a journalism major. The world is acknowledging and acting upon the field’s protracted decline.

When I was first confronted with this topic, I refused to accept it as truth, as I was not ready to go searching for a new career goal. How could society not need news? How does news being available online render journalists unnecessary? Thankfully, though, journalism is being replaced by something that may prove to be even better than its predecessor. The famous web log, better known as the “blog,” is increasing in popularity and has much to offer for writers and readers alike.

At first glance, it may seem that blogging and journalism cannot be considered as belonging to the same category. After all, anyone can blog about anything. There are no editors involved, no guarantee of the content’s validity, and no shiny well-constructed prose to make readers feel that their new news source is worthwhile. This lack of regulation, however, is exactly what makes blogging so special for everyone involved.

The blogger can start his or her own blog without any economic restraints or worry of having to actually get hired by someone. If the blogger is talented enough, his work will grow in popularity, making self-promotion attainable, given that enough commitment and hard work is put into the endeavor. The blogger can then get out his or her opinions without worry of the confines of employers or reputations of the companies that he or she works for. Bloggers are also encouraged to write in a free-form, casual and personal writing style, which is what makes blogs so entertaining for those who read them. The bloggers are forced to keep up to date, as slacking makes their blogs lose popularity, and they offer personal accounts without the distractions of a clearly structured and complete argument, allowing readers to gain a more tangible grasp of what is going in the world.

Readers gain from blogs, as well, as they have a constant awareness while browsing through the blogosphere that the author is just another human being. When reading the newspaper, we are not as likely to read with the eyes of a skeptic as the articles have gone through rounds of editing to make them seem as believable and scholarly as possible, making us more likely to accept them as truth. Blogging, on the other hand, is raw human opinion. We know when we read it that it is someone’s unaltered viewpoint, and, by perusing through multiple blogs on the same subject, we can formulate opinions of our own. Blogs can therefore stimulate and satisfy intellectual curiosity. Readers have to find their own answers by compiling multiple and diverse opinions rather than having finished answers from the same journalists delivered to their front doors week after week.

Although professional bloggers can make money from advertisements and book deals, the great thing about blogs is that their creation stems primarily from the passion of the bloggers rather than a monetary incentive. The bloggers genuinely want their opinions to be heard, and the readers genuinely want to hear what the bloggers have to say. Bloggers also build off of one another, and readers’ comments influence the blogs themselves, making the whole dissemination process of news more personal and trustworthy without the existence of official regulation.

So enjoy reading the newspaper while you still can, but be sure to start checking out what blogs have to offer and maybe even consider creating a blog yourself. The death of journalism may just mean that the process of sharing your opinion with the world has suddenly become much easier.