Assignment!

Perez- Blogger or Journalist?

Perez Hilton is making his mark on the world. Even if you haven’t heard of the proclaimed entertainer, he is sure to draw an interest from you. Firstly we will examine Perez as a person. His education, talents and setbacks are sure to amaze you from the beginning. Secondly, we will focus on the qualities of a blogger, exploring Hilton’s own blog. Following that, the characteristics of a journalist will be explored. Further more, we will examine what journalists do and how they report in today’s society. Does Perez fall under this category as well? Lastly, we will focus on how a journalist and a blogger differ, drawing from Perez’s own lifestyle and experience.

So exactly who is Perez Hilton? Perez is actually Mario Lavandeira and was born on the 23rd of March 1978, in Miami, Florida, USA (IMDb 2008). He studied at New York University and received an honours on graduation (IGN 2008), and later studied at the Tisch school of Arts and received a B.F.A in drama (IGN 2008). Early on, Lavandeira worked as a freelance journalist for gay publications. (Paper Publishing Company 2008). Lavandeira started his own celebrity gossip blog in 2004, called Pagesixsixsix, a take on the famous gossip column on page six in the New York Post (IGN Entertainment 2008). According to IGN Entertainment (2008), it wasn’t too long before the blog earned a reputation “of being Hollywood’s most hated website.” In turn, The New York post sued Lavandeira, making him change his blog name (IGN Entertainment 2008). It’s not hard to work out where his name was derived from. Lavandeira came up with the idea of Perez Hilton, a fictitious cousin of the infamous socialite Paris Hilton, to replace Pagesixsixsix (Paper Publishing Company 2008). He has since reaped the benefits’ of using such a blogging name as Perez Hilton.

Blogging is fast becoming a popular media outlet. Blogging can be described as a webpage produced online by individuals where anyone can add their ideas and thoughts (Passante, 2007: 231). And you don’t have to have any qualifications to start a blog. According to Crucial Marketing (2007), a blog is “a frequent, chronological publication of personal thoughts and Web links.” Anyone can write about anything on a blog, however, to be credible, the individual must be established and have readers (Passante, 2007:234). Perez first set up his Hollywood gossip blog perezhilton.com in late 2005. Perez first hit success when he produced the first pictures of power couple Brad and Angelina (IGN Entertainment 2008). Since then, he has achieved world wide success. According to Elizabeth Day (2007), Perez’s website is “an indefinable mishmash of exclusive celebrity gossip, acerbic put-downs and precisely targeted humiliation, which now has 2.6 million visitors a month.” Quite good considering he started out with an ordinary blog. But where does journalism fit in with this entertainer we know as Perez?

Journalism is a big part of today’s society. But exactly what they do is another issue. According to editor Allan R. Andrew (1997), “a journalist combines a sense of curiosity, civic concern, idealism, a love of words, and a craftsman's attention to detail in trying to chronicle human activity in the everyday world.” But this definition cannot stand alone. Journalists also create debates and forums whilst keeping the public informed on current issues (Conley 2002: 8). According to Jane Johnston (1997: 16), it is the media’s job to inform, entertain and act as watchdogs over issues involving society. Journalists communicate with society by conveying a message through words spoken or written and pictures (Pelusey et al 2005: 4). It appears that Perez does this quite successfully on his blog. He has knowledge of the basic law system which journalists must be aware of (Pearson 1997:7). Journalists should also have core values including accuracy, fairness and balance, reflecting the diversity of the reader, reporting with an open mind and committing to their reader (Committee of Concerned Journalists 2008). According to the Committee of Concerned Journalists (2008) “the journalist should be a provider of reliable, verified, true information- even a seeker of truth.” So it can be said that a journalist is a conveyer of reliable information to the public. But not anyone can be called a journalist. A degree will get you in the door, but no training program alone will create a successful journalist (Conley 2005: 8). A journalist must educate oneself, study and not just read newspapers, and not have an interest in a current affairs, but a curiosity that expands outside the boundaries (Conley 2005: 8). As Conley (2005:8) stated “journalists aspire to become a fly on the wall.” So Perez has the second quality that Conley suggested. The fact that he educates himself and directs his curiosity outside newspapers and current affairs. Although Perez has completed university, it has never been stated anywhere that he completed a journalism degree. Therefore, Perez has some of he qualities of a journalism, but cannot be called a journalist alone.

Journalism and Blogging have some similarities, however they also differ greatly from each other. It can be said that Blogging will be the way of the future. Journalists not only have to worry about other reporters gathering their scopes before them, but for average people who happen to be in the right place at the right time breaking their news on their own personal blogs (Passante 2007: 234). According to Christopher Passante (2007: 233), “blogs are not just becoming popular- they are changing the way journalists gather news.” So are journalists starting to depend more and more on blogs? It seems that way. Perez is said to have stated on IMDb.com, Inc. (2008), “I used to be an actor, I used to be a journalist and I used to be a publicist. I know how all these people think.” It seems that Perez has gathered qualities from bloggers and journalists to create an image of an entertainer, by which he swears by. Perez was quoted on Paper Publishing Company (2008), “I like to call myself an entertainer. The way I present my website is as a form of entertainment.” Even though Perez likes to be called an entertainer, he still really is a blogger. He has the characteristics and experience of a journalist and qualities of a blogger, but when it comes down to it, he created a blog. A blog to do one thing- blog about the lives of celebrities.

Mario Lavandeira , or as we like to know him as, Perez Hilton is typically a blogger. He posts his ideas and thoughts on a web blog, along with millions of other everyday people of society. He does however, have many characteristics of a journalist, including his wide sense of curiosity, concern for the world, love of words and pictures and attention to providing the latest information from around the world. Even though it’s hard to clearly distinguish if Perez is a blogger or a journalist, one thing is for sure- Perez Hilton is definitely proving to be a world wide phenomenon, accomplishing renowned success.



Bibliography
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