The Guardian Signs Up Salam Pax As A Columnist
from the no-surprise-there dept
I'm sure there were plenty of newspapers who had people trying to hunt down the real identity of the "Iraqi blogger", who goes by the name Salam Pax to try to hire the guy that everyone seems to be reading. It appears that the Guardian, in the UK, was the first to track him down and have given him his own column in the paper. I'm sure this will fuel the ongoing "blogs vs. journalism" debate - though, it actually does more to show the changing nature of journalism as a whole. These days, anyone and everyone can be a journalist. A good media organization realizes that it isn't just the credentialed reporters that might have the most valuable insights any more. While some may complain that when "anyone" can be a reporter you're more likely to have fraudulent stories (while pointing to the various "fraud" blogs that have shown up), the simple fact is that this already happens with "real" journalists. What a more open journalism provides is a better way to dig out the frauds quickly.
Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.
Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.
While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.
–The Techdirt Team
Reader Comments
Subscribe: RSS
View by: Time | Thread
Ripe for manipulation
[ link to this | view in chronology ]