High School Student Receives Academic Credit for Blog Study

Ben Casnocha, a high school student in San Francisco, received academic credit for his Independent Study on Blogs, Journalism, and Media. 

From his own description, here are the questions he discussed:

• Do all conversations lead somewhere? How effective are conversations with many talking compared with one person lecturing?
• Is the “wisdom of crowds” always better than the opinion of one, and if so, how does that wisdom get “mined” on the web?
• What process do people go through to change an opinion? Are opinioned-blogs and the ensuing spirited conversations changing anyone’s opinion? How often do blogs (or any conversation for that matter) go beyond “I think this” and “I think this.”
• What role do blogs have besides the obvious one of being a watchdog/critic of mainstream media?
• What is the future of “hyperlocal journalism” where neighbors and community members write local stories in an online format?
• Is objectivity in media “a view from nowhere”? In covering any controversial story, the media tends to simply let whoever has been defined as "the sides" dictate their beliefs and just do an "X said, but then Y said" story.
• What are the limits/constraints of the blogging form versus the future possibilities?
• Does a lack of referees on the web tends to support an everyone-has-his-own-truth world where “truth” is up for grabs? Is it realistic to hope for a higher-up authority to separate truth from fiction either on the web or offline? How does the increasing lack of trust in institutions in America affect this?

It looks like an excellent and prodigious study. Go here to read more.