Monday, September 17, 2007
Perez Hilton: Journalist or just a blogger?
Ok, this is a question that's been on my mind for a few weeks now. I'm sure most of you known who Perez Hilton is, but if you don't he's an online celebu-bogger, who dishes the dirt on Hollywood. Now, according to is website: www.perezhilton.com, he has a number of valid sources whom he gets his information from (he even claims to have government sources who confide in him...apparently he received info from these sources pertaining to Fidel Castro's death!) Anyway, my point being, is Mr. Hilton a real journalist? He delivers news that people want to read (his site gets over 7 million hits a day - and yes, I might be one of them), and he says he has legitimate sources to back up his information. What do people think about this? I mean, it's clearly tabloid-level reporting, but is it journalism?
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2 comments:
I'd say he's a journalist because I prefer a broad definition that doesn't "privilege" mainstream media. That said, courts still need to decide if a blogger with two regular readers has the same rights when it comes to shielding sources that a SF Chronicle reporter does. For all his faults and excesses, I'd say PH is an MSM journalist.
I would consider Perez Hilton to be a journalist due to the fact that a journalists job is to report information that would appeal to the public;and he does just that. There are tons of bloggers on the internet, but if they were all considered journalists, then a majority would get the attention and credibility Perez Hilton gets.
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