What won't we write?

New to blogging, I'm getting the impression that attracting readers/followers is regarded as a primary objective. That's consistent with other entities that distribute information and opinions.

Newspapers and magazines need advertising revenue, predicated on the size of their readership, to exist. Radio and television stations' advertising revenue is based on the number of listeners and viewers they attract.

In all but the smallest markets, though, the people selling advertising space or time are not the ones reporting the news or spouting opinion. In fact, at least in most print news organizations, journalists are specifically prohibited from participating in commercial activity -- beyond doing the best job they can to give their advertising salespeople something to sell.

Sort of like the way professional athletes don't sell tickets to the game.

As news organizations have migrated to the Web, though, journalism has moved ever closer to marketing as the desire to generate "hits" has closed in on the obligation to inform. As though all this exists in an echo chamber, newspapers are beginning to look more like their Websites -- giving emphasis to what attracts readers over information that readers might find vital.

Now, as journalism evolves into an individual rather than a team sport, it will be interesting to see how bloggers deal with the potential conflicts inherent in promoting -- even "monetizing" -- what they publish.