Digital Rocket Surgery

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The Blog Herald points to a debate in which Andrew Keen contended that The Huffington Post “ultimately means the death of professional journalists.”

You can read his full comments here, with an additional piece here.

This intersects with my post last week on blogging, newspapers, and accountability.

I thoroughly disagree with his assessment, as did a vast majority of those who heard the debate. Over 80% thought the other viewpoint won, which Keen writes about here. He was quite a good sport about it.

My take:

Professional journalism will always exist. There is too much demand for objective, well-done investigative reporting–reporting that requires skill, insight and connections. What may very well go away is a newsroom of reporters covering the local spelling bee, the Cub Scout bake sale fundraiser and the effects of an unseasonably warm winter on the insect population during the summer.

Those kinds of stories, though, can be covered by bloggers just as easily, just as effectively, and with just as much professionalism as a paid journalist.