Lawyers above reporters on food chain, again?

Read somewhere that the only profession held in less repute than lawyers were reporters. Looks like we lawyers may have it over reporters again. This time in the area of online media.

Amy Grahan, writing at Poynter Online, explains that just commenting on blogs and forums can be a good start for journalists looking to understand online media.

Getting in the habit of commenting on blogs and forums, following at least some comment threads or conversations that sprawl across multiple venues, or at the very least reading and responding to comments left on your stories at your own news organization’s site, helps you join the participatory culture of online media. It helps you realize what you can gain from direct public engagement, and how to use it to make your work easier in some respects and more effective overall. This in turn influences how you plan and execute reporting projects or publishing efforts — especially learning to feature discussion, not just treat it as a sideshow.

Turns out where thousands of lawyers have taken to not only commenting on other’s blogs, but publishing blogs themselves, journalists are slow to bite.

…[F]or many people (especially journalists, I’ve found), actually getting involved in a public conversation that’s likely discoverable via search engines (often not the case with e-mail lists) is a challenging but eye-opening experience. It’s humbling but surprisingly empowering to be on a level public playing field with their readers, sources, or other communities. So often journalists prefer to hold themselves apart from these constituencies, and engage them in conversation only via private channels (phone or e-mail).

Amazing that the profession skilled in writing, interviewing, investigation, and reporting – perfect for blogging and online media – would be afraid to get involved. Job preservation and money is likely to bring a change of heart.

And frankly for lawyers, it’s job preservation and getting good work that drives blogging. There’s never been a better way to enhance one’s reputation, do PR, and grow business.