I mentioned in a previous post about the lovely yellow ribbon I wore on my SLA conference nametag, embossed with the words “SLA Blogger.” Not only did this serve as a nice icebreaker among strangers, it also drew odd reactions from people. If I was among a group of people and someone gossiped or told an inappropriate joke or comment, I very quickly received horrified glances followed by one of the following exasperated utterances “you can’t blog that,” or “this is off the record,” or “you can’t comment on this!” For the most part, these comments were scared pleadings from people who seemed convinced that I plotting to maliciously blog about them at a moments notice. I found this to be odd at the time, but now have actually had a chance to think about it.
My conclusion is that our public perception of the press/media/journalists has been changed dramatically by the Internet. From Jayson Blair to CNN having “blog watchers” presenting segments during the news, it’s my opinion that the whole idea of free press has changed. Turned upside down, even. Hey, I love “The Daily Show” – but, is it weird that so many people get their actual NEWS from it? With “infotainment” being the norm nowadays, it’s no wonder that anything goes – that an SLA Blogger gets treated like a member of the “real” press. Interestingly, the other night on “The Colbert Report,” I saw an interview with Josh Wolf. I saw he is described as a “freelance journalist and independent videographer” and he is under fire for not handing over videotape of anarchists to the government so they can prosecute. What I found most interesting is that he talked about being a video blogger and it was freedom of the press and so on and so forth. I thought the timing of his appearance was fortuitous, as I have been mulling this over in my head since leaving Denver. After reading his bio on his blog/website, I see that he went to school for journalism. In my mind, at least, I feel that still puts me, a non-journalist major, into a different category — a category of just a person with the technical capabilities to have a blog to spout off about things. I haven’t made up my mind about Josh Wolf’s legal predicament, but his Colbert interview gave me more to think about.
Some of us at the conference joked it would be funny to have a “Page Six” style blog about our fellow attendees. Entries like, “Which librarians were spotted canoodling at the Gold Diggers Ball?” But, it was never taken seriously. So, to come full-circle with my original thought – the only times I will mention a non-public individual and/or their actions will only be if I have their consent. Any of the people who have already been mention on this blog gave me permission to do so. The operative term being “non-public.” If you are on a widely watched television show like Mr. Wolf, then you are fair game. Otherwise, I’m not out to tell the secrets or even off-hand comments of people I meet at a cocktail party. That’s not the way of the Library Sherpa.
Care to guess what’s not open? The