As the tangible newspaper trade has started to defect to the digital, the subject of journalism vs. blogging, or rather, the old vs. the new, has become topical: recent interesting examples of this debate can be seen here, and here.

There are plain differences between blogging and traditional journalism. Differences, as they often do, create conflict. The main difference can be summarised as open vs. closed. Blogs are free, limitless, and open. The newspaper trade is steeped in convention and tradition, which blogs threaten.

(There is another aspect to this debate, one of high vs. low culture. There was snobbery towards newspapers when they first became mass-market, but how many blogs can be considered ‘high-culture’, or accused of intellectual snobbery? Have blogs democratized writing?)

Here, I’m a one-girl team: I am entirely self-edited, self-directed, and I have the wonderful freedom to write on whatever subjects I desire, in whatever style I want. This is a blessing and a curse: I’m saddled with the responsibility, and paradoxically freed, from deadlines and editorship. When I started writing, my main concern is how personal, how authentic I should be when I post. For once I am not using a pseudonym or username to hide behind. I am writing in propria persona, and my audience could include any of my friends, family, colleagues, and employers. Yikes!

Unlike traditional journalism, I’m not reporting news, and there’s no guarantee if I’m going to write a post tomorrow, or the day after. Maybe I’ll even skip a week, as I’m not on a schedule, and my readers aren’t paying me. Admittedly, my business with my blog is selfish: I’m writing first and foremost because I’m an incorrigible content-maker. I like making and publishing content. I benefit from the process of writing, as writing down my ideas forces me to think them through more clearly and carefully. If I aim to write posts with genuine value, then readers benefit too. All of this motivates me to write.

My basic aims are to:

(1) Be authentic as possible, in the hope that I can, eventually, contribute content of genuine value
(2) To avoid clichéd topics and phrases where possible
(3) To use the ‘open’ medium of blogging to its full potential
(4) To develop a consistent writing style, and
(5) To learn.