A Most Respectable Blogger

I actually have this as a t-shirt and I'm very fond of it, too...

I was asked by my co-host on the weekly UnWired radio programme, Rama Chakai, what it was that made me 'a blogger' (I'm introduced on the show as a public relations director, writer and blogger). The answer is, of course, other people. It's not a title I have ever given myself - other people, media in specific, give it me to validate me. You see, journalists do tend to think I'm not much use as a public relations person (unless the story is about public relations, of course), so they have to find something more acceptable to the public. Like bank robber or canary molester.

I have written here before about media using 'experts' with no validation of their expertise. It's an insidious game. And I'm part of it, despite the fact I have never introduced myself as anything other than my day job.

Would I still be 'a blogger' if I had a more acceptable job, such as Middle East Analyst at the SNAFU Institute? No, I don't think I would. So here is proof that it is more generally acceptable to be a blogger than a public relations person.

Yeah, I know the bar's incredibly low there. But it's perhaps interesting how bloggers have acceptability as qualified sources of information for mainstream media.