The Value of Journalism (or how I completely deviated from the topic).

For me, the value of journalism is about $3,200 a semester.

For those not in j-school, there is no price tag on it. Its value is measured in the amount of knowledge you hold. Knowledge that goes beyond dates, places, events and people. It’s knowing enough to analyze, dismiss, accept, add onto, discuss, and understand.

With Internet journalism’s inevitable rise, it’s been seen as a threat to the old world of journalism. And understandably so: why be a spectator when you can be a player?

There have been some who embrace this new form of journalism and have learned to work with it rather than against it.

I, for one, was skeptical of journalist bloggers. I also felt a sense of elitism in being a part of the journalism world. It’s our club. Journalists have their own lingo, war stories, history and organizations. We’ve payed our dues whether it’s j-school or at an entry-level job at a hometown newspaper. We should feel elitist. It’s the same in most professions.

It’s also a competitive profession. Adding bloggers in the mix makes it that much easier to be scooped. (Although who cares about being scooped on the Katie Couric photoshop picture… unless you’re the Post who put it on the front page). But if you’re good, it doesn’t matter how much competition there is.

Bloggers, however, do not cheapen the value of journalism. There’s enough elitism to go around. No matter how easy it is to dismiss bloggers or Internet journalism, the truth is they deserve a seat at the table.

But I digress…