Are bloggers ready to safeguard our democracy?

THIS week I have been thinking a lot about the future of my industry- a lot more than usual. Circumstances have made it such. In case you haven't been paying attention, last month the KM Group announced its intention to buy the paper I write for.

As I write, the Office of Fair Trading is mulling it over. The outcome will be anyone's guess.
Since I haven't a clue who my employers will be in six months I will be keep most of my opinions on this to myself.

Many fear this potential change could mean the demise of the local press in Thanet.

I think this highly unlikely, yet it hasn't stopped the (often gleeful) conjecture from some corners that the blogs will take over as the papers dwindle.

It that is so then God help us.

Don't get me wrong I love blogs, I have one myself. They offer us news, gossip, comment, variety, colour and occasionally they might even beat the press to it.

I will even go as far to say Thanet's diligent blogging community is a source of pride for the Isle.

But a replacement for the Thanet press it is not- and it won't be for a long time.

Consider the Isle of Thanet Gazette. There are many functions this paper fulfils week in week out that I have yet to see achieved on any amateur blog with any confidence or competence.

Here are some examples

Court coverage
Only yesterday I was covering a case in court, as I do three or four times a week, and thinking to myself- who else does this in Thanet?
Open justice is principle so integral to our democracy, without a member of the press present there is no one there to see justice is done, to see that it is open, and to see that it is fair.
Regardless of this I am yet to see a Thanet blogger cover a court case and I can count on one hand the number of times I have had to share the press bench with a rival journalist and it worries me. With no one to cover provincial courts- there is nothing to insure they remain accountable and no one to expose wrong doing or the consequences of it.

Impartiality

A democracy needs an impartial press. Though we don't always get it right, we are morally, and legally, bound to give a balanced story. Not only are we beholden to the law but also to the Press Complaints Commission code and to our peers. A blogger on the other had has only their self and their conscience to rely on and this alone is not enough to guarantee fairness or impartiality by any stretch of the imagination.

Consistency and accuracy
Unlike a blogger, a newspaper is not an individual, it is a collection of individuals. Not only do we regulate our own content but the content of our peers. The news agenda is formed from both a professional and moral consensus and the way we write is subject to an agreed style guide. For this reason papers like the Isle of Thanet serve as a reliable public record

Accountability
For me this is the most important issue. Often bloggers will accuse the papers of lagging behind because they won't print rumours that Mr Wot-sit is taking backhanders or Mrs Do-What is running brothel above the bakers or because they won't run a particular story without getting both sides of the story straight first.
I have lost count of the amount of times I have seen bloggers flout the law regarding defamation or confidentiality.
The law is yet to catch up with the Internet but the law is there for a reason, to keep the media accountable and to protect the vulnerable.
As for self-regulation, I wouldn't be surprised if half the bloggers out there thought the PCC code was something you run on your computer.

I have barely scraped the surface, many journalist could no doubt add this list.

Bloggers of Thanet, you are amazing, don't stop what you are doing but support your local press because unless you have the time or inclination to address the issues above, you can never fill its shoes.