ABSTRACT
Early understandings of blogs within the traditional media suggested they were highly unreliable as sources of information.1 In an online article for the BBC website in 2003, technology commentator Bill Thompson emphasised that ‘often’ blogging was ‘as far from journalism as it is possible to get’: blogs contained ‘unsubstantiated rumour, prejudice and gossip masquerading as informed opinion’.2 The perceived culture of blogging did not seem to fit with the values associated with the BBC’s brand of journalism which was built on accurate, impartial, independent and fair reporting.3 Within the BBC, blogs were the cause of significant confusion for some journalists4 and incorporating these new sources of online information in BBC journalism appeared to represent a professional minefield.
