Well, at least, that’s what’s happening to me.
.-= Troy Benning | Travel Insurance Comparison´s last blog ..Student Travel Insurance – How to get the best one =-.

I really look forward to seeing the travel industry change with the times. If I had to venture a guess, I imagine there will be a day when distinctions like “blogger” or “writer” won’t even be considered. I think that as communication becomes more free-flowing, everyone will benefit. The “playgrounds”, as you say, will be open for all to play in.

My favorite thing about the new world unfurling before us is the power of the individual. One person, one blog, can completely change everything. I encourage all of us to keep moving forward on the projects that really make us excited. It’s not until a bit of time passes that we can really see the full value of those things…
.-= Lauren´s last blog ..What Is Life In the Bonus Round =-.

I consider myself a writer. Blogging is the format. Print is a format. TV is a format. Novels are a format. Writing is writing.

It’s the same argument with the term journalist. If Fox News and Glenn Beck (or any opinion-based news) is journalism, can we really make the distinct that blogging isn’t?

Ultimately people try to use the words writer or journalist or blogger to describe a level of quality. But we have to be careful – I’m pretty sure that even print travel writing isn’t taken very seriously by the rest of the print world. It’s all about your standard — the guy entrenched in Iran isn’t going to take a luxury brand hotel reviewer very seriously — and in turn she isn’t going to take her blogging counterparts seriously either — and beyond that those bloggers aren’t going to take their blogger.com colleagues seriously and so on.

It’s all one big pissing contest, if you ask me.

I don’t think the print world is dying. I’ve just spent 5 months travelling through Europe and Japan where *everyone* everywhere is reading books and graphic fiction and magazines. I think the problem is that many print publishers haven’t kept up with what we like to read on print and what we like to read on the web and understood that their audiences are changing.

As someone who worked in film for so long, I remember all the debates as video and digital media grew about ‘film being dead’.
.-= lara dunston´s last blog ..Price Check: a Tokyo Shopping List =-.

I work primarily as a professional travel, meaning that 100% of my income comes from paid commissions for books, stories for newspapers/magazines, and stories/posts for the web. Like David, I had also blogged, but until January this year it was more of a hobby, to be able express myself freely in a way I couldn’t in the things I was commissioned to write.

However, this year, I’m getting paid to blog at Grantourismo http://grantourismotravels.com/ but I’m still earning income from writing for other mediums, including print. And I’ve *always* written for many mediums – my first job (to put myself through uni) was in PR, I was then a filmmaker, I then wrote teen novels for HarperCollins, later I was an academic who taught script writing and writing for all media/genres/mediums. I adapt my writing for different genres/mediums/formats although readers can always find my own voice in there somewhere, just at different levels depending on whom I’m writing for.

I never stopped at any point in my career to ask myself, am I a scriptwriter? Am I a novelist? Am I a journalist? I don’t understand why a writer can’t write for more than one genre/format/medium/audience if they have the ability?
.-= lara dunston´s last blog ..Price Check: a Tokyo Shopping List =-.

I’ve also embraced the blogging world b/c, as was mentioned in the comments, the print world is a dying industry. Blogging doesn’t require AP style writing, nor is it necessary to quote resources in your article. In fact, many bloggers write from the first person perspective, which is very different from newspaper and magazine format. Certainly blogging is a more personal approach to writing.

As Gary, Barbara, Karen and Donna mentioned, bloggers are self publishers and jacks of all trades.. Speaking strictly for myself, I’ve had to learn how to write for keywords, use HTML code, crunch photos, produce and upload video and promote my content. Learning how to use social media, obtain high Google Page Rank, low Alexa rankings and everything in between has been, and continues to be a challenge for me.

I’m very grateful to you, Gary, Karen, Barbara, Donna, Heather and all my fellow bloggers for graciously sharing their knowledge with me. I find bloggers to be open and playful. Thanks for keeping the gate in your yard open. Your southern hospitality is appreciated!