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[bryant]

Not to harp on Glenn, but I think this is actually an important general point: are bloggers amateur or professional? I think it’s past time we stopped equating “blog” with “amateur.”

In this post, Glenn defends his right to write about whatever he wants, which is a right I certainly support. He also says we shouldn’t use him as our only news source, which is commendable. However, he also says “And this is, as Eugene properly notes, an amateur activity.”

His very next post is a pointer to his TechCentralStation column.

He didn’t get the column gig because he’s a famous law professor. He got it because he’s a famous blogger. He’s not getting paid for Instapundit.com, but it sure has led to paying jobs. That doesn’t make it a professional pursuit, per se. Does it blur the line between amateur and professional? Of course it does.

Comments

[colubra.livejournal.com]

From m-w.com:

Amateur: Devotee, Admirer: one who engages in a pursuit, study, science or sport as a pastime rather than a profession.

AMATEUR, DILETTANTE, DABBLER, TYRO mean a person who follows a pursuit without attaining proficiency or professional status.

He's quite simily not an amateur. And he's not using the word 'amateur' too terribly professionally, either. :)

[(Anonymous)]

Just a random browse-by musing but here it is. :)

I think the difference is between someone who is held to some kind of formal editorial standard (for example, a news editor for a major paper, with a tradition, and a set editorial process) and someone who is held to a marketplace standard (do people continue to read the blog for its quality rather than for the trust in its process).

The same is true in a lot of expressive media. You do have those who leap to the public imagination without some kind of peer/mentor/hierarchical structure, but the vast majority of people who produce good work have come through the more regular tradition.

It isn't that the editorial process prevents lousy journalism or that the blog invites it. It's just that one is a peer-reviewed process and the other is reviewed in the realm of public taste and appreciation. I'd say it's more a distinction between professional and entrepreneur, than professional and amateur.

[bryant]

I think that's a pretty good formulation of the difference. Thank you; it's well-put.