What's the difference between a columnist and a blogger?

1. What’s the difference between a columnist and a blogger?

   I had an email exchange about the difference between a columnist and a blogger with Teresa Schmedding. Teresa is Assistant Managing Edito…

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   Steve Buttry

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2. 

   What’s the difference between a columnist & a blogger? Are the differences diminishing? @tschmedding asks. I answer: http://wp.me/poqp6-2AM

   Steve Buttry

   Thu, Oct 18 2012 05:56:42

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3. As I’m editing this Storify, I realize with a little bit of horror that this could have a small echo of the tired old discussion of whether bloggers are journalists. I don’t mean it that way. Bloggers certainly include a lot of journalists. I view this question as an effort to understand the differences and similarities between columnists and blogging journalists.
4. 

   What’s the difference between a columnist and a blogger? http://bit.ly/RE4CpA by @stevebuttry I struggle with this all the time. #sci4hels

   Bora Zivkovic

   Thu, Oct 18 2012 06:04:41

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5. 

   @BoraZ @stevebuttry Flow.

   Jay Rosen

   Thu, Oct 18 2012 06:06:09

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6. 

   @jayrosen_nyu @stevebuttry that is my usual answer – posts are links in a chain (or nodes in a web), columns are stand-alone.

   Bora Zivkovic

   Thu, Oct 18 2012 06:11:10

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7. 

   RT @jayrosen_nyu: @BoraZ @stevebuttry Flow.<-Format too. Also, often, familiarity w. the concept of “data.”

   Thomas Levenson

   Thu, Oct 18 2012 06:07:03

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8. 

   @jayrosen_nyu Brevity. @BoraZ @stevebuttry

   Tim Skellett

   Thu, Oct 18 2012 06:07:35

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9. 

   Yes, blog posts often go very long. No word-limit. RT @Gurdur: @jayrosen_nyu Brevity. @BoraZ @stevebuttry

   Bora Zivkovic

   Thu, Oct 18 2012 06:10:18

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10. This point from my post drew some response: “For the best columns, the relationship with readers is what makes them most special. The relationship with readers may be the greatest strength of a good column. I know that some blogs achieve a strong relationship with readers, but I doubt many people open their computers in the morning, planning to turn to their favorite blogger first, the way that newspaper readers might turn first to a great columnist. If I’m right about this, I think that reflects the vastness of the content available and the sporadic times that blogs appear. I am an early riser and post often in the morning, but I might post in the afternoon and I don’t post every morning. I think people find my blog through Twitter, Facebook, RSS and occasional visits, rather than looking for me in the paper every Sunday and Wednesday.”
11. 

    @BoraZ @stevebuttry Strongly disagree w/ #1- I don’t have a morning columnist I run to. I have several bloggers I read 1st thing every AM

    Kelly

    Thu, Oct 18 2012 06:15:01

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12. 

    @rocza @stevebuttry likewise, never cared about any columnist ever. Religiously read some/many bloggers.

    Bora Zivkovic

    Thu, Oct 18 2012 06:18:17

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13. 

    @BoraZ @stevebuttry yep. Mornings I have to see what @edyong209 @docfreeride @FearLoathingBTX & Bora have written. Other ppl multiple x/week

    Kelly

    Thu, Oct 18 2012 06:29:35

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14. I stand corrected, though I will note that I said the relationship with readers was a similarity between bloggers and columnists. 
15. 

    Columnists should blog, but column-writing and blogging aren’t (yet) the same thing http://bit.ly/RE4CpA by @stevebuttry

    John McQuaid

    Thu, Oct 18 2012 06:06:46

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16. 

    @BoraZ @stevebuttry If it’s not online, it’s not a blog. If it’s online it is.

    Khalil A. Cassimally

    Thu, Oct 18 2012 06:11:14

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17. 

    The spelling. Seriously, that’s it. RT @BoraZ: What’s the difference between a columnist and a blogger? http://bit.ly/RE4CpA by @stevebuttry

    Ed Yong

    Thu, Oct 18 2012 06:19:51

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18. This is an excellent point, one which came up in the comments on my blog:
19. 

    @edyong209 @boraz @stevebuttry to be fair- & speaking as someone who writes & edits- a column tends to be edited, too. It tightens things up

    Kelly

    Thu, Oct 18 2012 06:37:05

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20. I may have misunderstood this tweet, but it seemed to me like a gratuitous shot at bloggers. I have edited some sloppy columnists and I think many blogs are as precise and accountable as anything published by newspapers (which, I agree, prize precision and accountability).
21. 

    @BoraZ @stevebuttry What’s the difference between a columnist and a blogger? Precision. Accountability.

    Will Doolittle

    Thu, Oct 18 2012 06:32:14

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22. 

    .@trafficstatic @BoraZ Yes, bloggers held accountable by quick feedback from community.

    Steve Buttry

    Thu, Oct 18 2012 07:47:59

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23. 

    Correct. RT @stevebuttry: .@trafficstatic @BoraZ Yes, bloggers held accountable by quick feedback from community.

    Bora Zivkovic

    Thu, Oct 18 2012 07:50:30

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24. 

    @stevebuttry I think there are often differences in tone/approach, but mainly, it’s the medium that dictates those things.

    Lindsey Wiebe

    Thu, Oct 18 2012 06:45:23

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25. 

    @BoraZ @stevebuttry @jayrosen_nyu To my mind, smart money has always been about fusing best of diff cultures/approaches. Blogumnists

    Ed Yong

    Thu, Oct 18 2012 06:31:36

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26. 

    @edyong209 the main problem is when columnists-turn-bloggers still want to be called columnists @stevebuttry @jayrosen_nyu

    Bora Zivkovic

    Thu, Oct 18 2012 06:29:33

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27. 

    @stevebuttry “Blog” is too general a term. Wish we were at a specificity stage.Blogs as diary aren’t the same as editorial essays.

    Brenda Tobias

    Thu, Oct 18 2012 07:55:35

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