Professional blogging (which I’ve been doing for over a year now) has a lot in common with traditional journalism. While I don’t consider myself a conventional journalist, I do follow proven methodologies without having my articles edited prior to publishing (you know, spelling, integrity, neutrality, etc). As a blogger, I’m asked to never take anything at face value, find the best angle in a story, add new context to a subject, open a topic up for discussion, and critique PR fluff for the consumer’s benefit. I really enjoy the work and hope to do it full-time someday.

Lately, however, I’ve been feeling a little cynical because of all the scrutiny I perform. Sometimes I feel like just being a consumer once in a while, but that consumer emotion is at odds with the service I try to render for my readers. I guess this post probably exposes the feelings of a newbie reporter after being involved in the space for an extended period of time. I just want to be more optimistic.