Columns and Blogs: Making Sense of Merging Worlds

The newspaper and magazine column, key sources for news comment and analysis prior to the Internet, is being challenged by a powerful new contender—the blog. Has the column’s importance diminished, even been rendered obsolete, by new e-venues such as the blog? The author, appreciative of the value and history of both columns and blogs, first defines these venues of publication, gives a brief history of each, and then outlines similarities and differences between the two. With this foundation in place, the author then discusses how the boundaries between new modes of online discussion, such as blogs, and traditional modes of journalistic commentary, such as columns, are blurring. The author looks at how blogs are changing professional and academic communication, calling for discussion on how blogs and columns can serve complementary purposes. This paper was the basis for the author’s presentation at a panel entitled “Column People: The Future of Columns in a World of Blogs” (with Bob Nardini) at the North American Serials Interest Group (NASIG) Conference in Louisville, Kentucky in 2007.