When Hip-Hop Journalism Became “Content”

April 14th, 2009

journalism_blog

Recently, I have rediscovered my appreciation for hip-hop journalism. As someone who has been working as a journalist in hip-hop for over 10 years, I realized that, while some of us have been able to survive the slow death of publications and make our transition to the web, the art form of hip-hop journalism has somehow lost its sense of direction. But in studying the internet over the last couple of years, I have been able to distinguish good ole’ hip-hop coverage from the overdose of “content” out there.

This is not to say that I’m not a junkie who has become addicted to scouring the internet for more and more “content,” some of which is just plain ole’ bad for ya. I’ll be the first to admit that I am a part of a culture that makes sites like worldstarhiphop.com (which dubs itself the “CNN of Urban Media”) such a success. I check it almost daily for their aggregation of hip-hop related videos–be they great interviews or ignorant sometimes misogynistic video clips. Still, there are those of who seem to have forgot that there is a responsibility that comes along with the publishing of material that is created within hip-hop. As a result, hip-hop journalism seems to be dying a slow death.

I am convinced that the reason this content aggregation as it pertains to hip-hop has spun out of control is that the powers that be have no formal journalism training or no regard for it, for that matter. Therefore, traditional hip-hop journalists are either affiliated with sites that publish a wide variety of different content, or have bit the dust because they could not figure out how to compete within the sphere of the world wide web. Reputable journalists are being replaced by “content” owners and/or bloggers–talented in their own right. These individuals are beasts when it comes to web publishing, video editing, internet search and social networking, but they should not be confused with being journalists (as many have proclaimed). To their credit, however, they have been able to win because they are quick in accumulating the news and even faster in publishing it on their own blog or website. They’ve been able to corner the market online (at a much lower rate, mind you).

Still, that isn’t to say that real hip-hop journalism doesn’t exist. It just lives in a very underground area (much like hip-hop did in its infancy). And I also don’t mean to downplay the journalistic skills of some (a very few) of the bloggers and content owners that actually research and fact-check their work, come up with their own spin on a story, and do their own original reporting. It’s just my observation, but much of the “content” out there is unedited, malicious and a regurgitated form of someone else’s originality. And another thing, I’m sorry, but hiding behind the “freedom of speech” and “anti-censorship” theory is no excuse for not moderating comments on a site that bears your name or likeness or the name of a highly-respected website, especially when those comments are untrue, vulgar, and malicious. (NOTE TO BLOGGERS: when your online community is using your site to anonymously defame people and publish random banter, you should feel compelled to moderate or edit, unless you actually like spreading rumors). I tell ya, these days, hip-hop on the internet has become one big tabloid, of the worst kind.

Allow me to continue to vent. But what ever happened to original reporting? Is it all about covering the same story nowadays?Everywhere I click, I’m noticing that the same three stories are being covered on a majority of hip-hop websites every day. And the thirst to compete has made people so succeptible to any phone call from a D-list celebrity that wants to “get their side of the story out.”

So while it’s customary for content aggregating sites to just re-publish someone else’s interview, it’s also become the norm for people on the web to borrow someone else’s content for their own benefit. Now, here’s the funny thing about that…it’s okay to do so if the bloggers or content owners are in the same network (on someone’s blogroll), but if you use someone else’s interview and you’re not “in” with them, then blogger no likey. Meanwhile, they try to call everyone else out on their “conflict of interest.”

All of this is to say that while I have enjoyed the abundance of content on the web and been able to get the news faster, the fact that I’m trained in filtering the information to get to the real story makes me wonder if the audience is doing the same. Or has the disguise of journalism as “content” just made the true art form a thing of the past? Your thoughts, please…

–KIM OSORIO