Sept. 22: Professionals vs. Amateurs

In the battle between professionals and amateurs...the real debocle is trying to decide which is which. In my personal experience, I have always called myself a professional filmmaker because I've invested time, money, and countless amounts of dedication to learning in order to make my craft better. As far as being perfect, I think that there is still much work to be done. One of the filmmakers I used to work with once told me that in order for me to be taken seriously as a professional, I have to act the part. I have to be able to produce work that is accommodating to the prices I charge and not price myself below what I feel is professional.

Leadbetter and Miller describe ProAm as "amateurs who work to professional standards." They also describe them as "knowledgable, educated, committed and networked, by new technology." It was interesting to read about how the operating system Linux was formed, by a student who saw the need to make something difficult more simple and accessible. He is a professional, but starting out seen as an amateur. This gets me pondering who is it that makes the rules on who can become an amateur or a professional. If a blogger decides, like me, to create an independent news site to show positive news about Memphis, would I be considered a professional reporter or merely an amateur.

I also wonder about the term citizen journalism, and if it is another form of giving amateurs a way to build their status. Levinson touched on Citizen Journalism in his book New New Media, showing how this is the reference often given to bloggers. Bloggers have arisen in staggering forms, and some amateur creations have become dominant sources for professional news, ie the Huffinton Post. Levinson gave some ideas on how to monetize your blog.

• 5 general ways of making money from your own blog (monetizing your blogs) (p.28):
• Google AdSense
• Amazon Associates
• PayPerPost
• PayPal Donation Widget
• Place ads direct from Advertisers
• Using Widgets, images and videos in your blog (p.35)

• Gauging readership: Statcounter and SiteMeter, Technorati (measures blog by link that go back to your blog), Alexa, Google PageRank, Digg (p.37)

There are some who say that moetizing a blog only refutes the actual purpose of the blog, but there are many bloggers out there who make it their sole job to report on different things...so perhaps they need a way of funding that job. In my case with iReportMemphis, I think that monetizing my blog with only local ads is a good way of adding more readers plus funding what it is that I do. If I could do this solely for a living, I may just do that.