What's a blogger?

Is someone who happens to use a blog engine or publishes some of his content via a blog engine, a blogger?

Many people seem to think so.

In some circles, I'm referred to as a blogger although most of the writing I do is for traditional print media.

The only real blogging I do these days is for ZDNet Asia (the blog you are reading now).

My personal Web site, in contrast, mainly acts as an archive for my published articles and is not really a blog.

Yet, people call me a blogger. I don't mind. I don't feel there's any negative connotation there. However, not everyone feels the same way.

This is what Christopher Albritton has to say about being classified as a blogger:

"I am a journalist who chose to blog to make a career move. I am still a journalist, proudly embedded in the so-called mainstream media, which generates about 99.9999 percent of the original reporting today. When I was first getting ready to go to Iraq in early 2003, many reporters called me and asked me why I was doing it, why blog? 'I blog,' I said, 'for the same reason I don't use a manual typewriter instead of a laptop. It's the best tool for the job.'"

The reason for his aversion to being called a blogger? Read on:

"... equating the average blog with journalism done by seasoned pros at the The New York Times or the Washington Post is wrong. It cheapens what costs money and time to produce and it reduces the value of the 'product'."