Photojournalism6

A blog is a user-generated website where entries are made in journal style and displayed in a reverse chronological order.

A typical blog combines text, images, and links to other blogs, web pages, and other media related to its topic. The ability for readers to leave comments in an interactive format is an important part of many blogs.

Blogs and bloggers are incredibly increasing in numbers and seems to be the most growing-up trend or fashion among pc users. I believe it's again, this ultimate tendency in humans of reporting or telling others about what's in their minds (opinions) and sharing with others what they saw and witnessed.

• On July 31, 2006, Technorati tracked its 50 millionth blog
• The blogosphere is doubling about once every 6 and a half months
• About 175,000 new weblogs are created each day
• There are more than 2 blogs created each second of each day
about 1.6 Million postings per day, or about 18.6 posts per second.

Posting photos in the blog supporting what's written makes it very much related to photojournalism.

With the high development of digital cameras built in cell phones, it became more than ever available for any one having one of these most popular electronic devices to shoot and/or record in video whatever comes in his way on the spot. With the bluetooth technology and the feature of internet access by cell phones, the news would travel the world in no time.

For example, the misfortunate sexual harassment events that took place in down town, Cairo, has been recorded on video and reported by a blogger through his blog of which he has been interviewed by many news channels and agencies including the BBC.

In the field of traveling photojournalism, some bloggers who have a serious and professional- like traveling blogs, has been asked by international hotels, and even countries to cover their facilities and site of attractions in exchange of free airfare tickets as well free accommodation plus $$cash in some cases.

On the other hand, some people still don't take bloggers words for granted, or don't take it as reliable sources of information as newspapers and news-agencies.

Blogs are meant to be individual and don't have-as well- to follow any professional press or journalistic rules except for the self-integrity of the bloggers themselves. It's a virtual free world.

I wonder if anyone has made a study or a research about the blogs issue, its relation/effect on Photo-Journalism and how much influence does it have on the internet surfer as well as the bloggers themselves now and in the near future.

Has the time come for anyone who has a well equipped cell-phone and a ready-made-web- based blog to be a potential photojournalist? !

Again, had those ancient Arab merchants of Nabatean been centuries ahead of us, using engravings on rocks as an ancient form of blogs?! Not to mention the ancient Egyptian engravings of course.

Think of wadi Mokattab in Sinai which has an intense writings of Nabatean on rocks telling their names, maybe part of their trading stories even in images, etc..

Think of the famous royal expedition trip of queen "Hatshepsut" to Punt narrated in drawings as well as the rest of the whole ancient Egyptian history.