Earlier today Jim Sterling wrote a about game blogging vs. game journalism which had me thinking about where on this spectrum my particular brand of gaming reflection and investigation sits. Sterling identifies a journalist as "someone who investigates, who goes out in the field, finds the news" and continues:

Unlike journalists, who strive to be objective and must generally be impersonal with their writing, bloggers will project themselves onto the work they do. They will never be shy about adding in their own opinions to the news they write about, and give the world a piece of their mind. Blogs are full to the brim with personality, and the news often comes flavored with a big chunk of bias. I want us to be realistic here though ...

I am aware that objective journalism is key when reporting gaming news and, to an extent, when doing gaming reviews. When writing reviews most game reviewers have a mental catalogue of qualities that made a quality video game according to their various rating systems. So, yes, part of me is a journalist. And then when looking at his definition of blogger, I think I am that as well. While I don't think I allow bias to enter my writing (except here in my blog, of course), I do think my reviews and articles palpably ooze personality and "dot-ness". And I don't think that's problematic. I think that in order for quality writing to be just that, it needs to to be infused with personality and creativity. I think there are, simply, several categories of journalism. While most is considered that objective reporting that Sterling spoke of, I also think that journalism can consist of retelling stories, proposing alternative perspectives on the world and critically and thoughtfully bringing a new understanding to a piece of media or a video game or whatever else is the subject of your writing. While my personality or biases may not be served up on a platter, they are present in the way I form those criticisms, analyses and stories. I don't think they need be as present as they are in my blog when I use my stream-of-consciousness, non-punctuated monologues. To me, blogging is a more casual, conversational form of writing that deserves credit in its own category. But those pieces of writing that involve intense editing, research and much more effort is where my personality as a writer really exists. So I exist, as a writer and a gamer reviewer and game journalist and blogger, in both of Sterling's categories, but also everywhere in between. I love destructoid and many other blogs, but it is a completely different animal from my more satiating gaming publications . . . and not just the review sites, but the cultural and critical perspectives on the gaming world that offer me a more complicated, complete or investigative and analytical perspective on gaming. Apples and oranges really . . . no?