Monday, November 27
Weblog Post #21 - A blog blog time ago
Look out news media.
Blogs are taking up the precious minutes of your readers', listeners’ and viewers' schedules. They are the hip way people of the “iGeneration” get their news. They are quick and accessible with a few clicks of the mouse. They are usually free and offer information that you big, greedy corporate newspapers won’t print. And best of all, they don’t have to answer to anybody.
That’s right. A byline on the Internet isn’t the same as a byline in a newspaper. Blog writers are often completely anonymous. They are untouchable. While reporters must attach their names to their publication and are forced to print their e-mail addresses and phone numbers by their work, blog writers are protected by a username and a hotmail address.
Is this a good thing?
No, not really. It’s one thing to seek out opinions and points-of-view on the Internet, it’s another thing to expect blogs to aggressively take the place of traditional media – even media on the Internet.
In a speech to the American Society of Newspaper Editors in 2000, President Bill Clinton said “the thing I worry most about is that people will have all the information in the world, (but) they won't have any way of evaluating whether it's true or false.”
Clinton was right to worry. Since 2000, the popularity of blogs and Internet news have skyrocketed
and they have become a major force in news gathering and dissemination. According to vice president of corporate communications and external affairs of the Federated Department Stores Carol Sanger, “news-oriented Web sites now outnumber all the U.S. newspapers, television stations and news radio stations combined.”
This is not a slam on Internet news. This is a slam on people who support the idea of amateur writers blogging traditional media into obscurity. News reporters pride themselves in their credibility, objectivity and professionalism. Our country prides itself in the freedom we give our press and the respectable manner the press uses that freedom. Why would we sacrifice that trust and put it in the hands of faceless writers with agendas and little, if any, journalistic experience?
What’s the big deal?
There are many respectable blogs out there. Many respected writers, editorialists and journalists have their own blogs that provide more information for people who want it. This is a great use of this new, stylish technology. However, there are a couple facts that are a cause for worry. Wonkette.com is a Web site that describes itself as “politics for people with dirty minds.” Wonkette creator Nick Denton said, “I think it's implicit in the way that a Web site is produced that our standards of accuracy are lower. Besides, immediacy is more important than accuracy, and humor is more important than accuracy."
Denton's site won “Best Political Weblog” in the 2005 Bloggies Awards.
Other reasons:
- Bloggers can write about an issue when they feel like it. They are not obligated to do follow-ups or even write ever again. It is a reporter’s job to follow-up and cover an issue completely.
- Anyone can find a blogger that fits his or her point-of-view. This doesn’t expand one’s mind, it only narrows it. Reporters are expected to be objective and present both sides of every story.
- Reporter must admit their mistakes and they are held accountable for their actions. They also make it easy for readers to contact them with complaints or suggestions. Bloggers can avoid any criticism and are not attached to anything they say, unless they provide accurate contact information, which is not always required.
- A reporter has respectability and viable connections. If you were a public official, would you talk to Jonathan McVerry from the New York Times or Joe Shmo from joeshmo.blogger.com?
Blogged down
In the blogosphere, the audience is the writer and editor, democracy is in its truest form and news is free from corporate interests (not self interest though). This is the radical nature of blogs. Let them expand our perspectives, let them promote interactivity, let them invoke public discussion and even let them speculate from time to time, but never let them take the place of your favorite newspaper or news show.
That would be a bad idea.
Blogs are taking up the precious minutes of your readers', listeners’ and viewers' schedules. They are the hip way people of the “iGeneration” get their news. They are quick and accessible with a few clicks of the mouse. They are usually free and offer information that you big, greedy corporate newspapers won’t print. And best of all, they don’t have to answer to anybody.
That’s right. A byline on the Internet isn’t the same as a byline in a newspaper. Blog writers are often completely anonymous. They are untouchable. While reporters must attach their names to their publication and are forced to print their e-mail addresses and phone numbers by their work, blog writers are protected by a username and a hotmail address.
Is this a good thing?
No, not really. It’s one thing to seek out opinions and points-of-view on the Internet, it’s another thing to expect blogs to aggressively take the place of traditional media – even media on the Internet.
In a speech to the American Society of Newspaper Editors in 2000, President Bill Clinton said “the thing I worry most about is that people will have all the information in the world, (but) they won't have any way of evaluating whether it's true or false.”
Clinton was right to worry. Since 2000, the popularity of blogs and Internet news have skyrocketed
and they have become a major force in news gathering and dissemination. According to vice president of corporate communications and external affairs of the Federated Department Stores Carol Sanger, “news-oriented Web sites now outnumber all the U.S. newspapers, television stations and news radio stations combined.”This is not a slam on Internet news. This is a slam on people who support the idea of amateur writers blogging traditional media into obscurity. News reporters pride themselves in their credibility, objectivity and professionalism. Our country prides itself in the freedom we give our press and the respectable manner the press uses that freedom. Why would we sacrifice that trust and put it in the hands of faceless writers with agendas and little, if any, journalistic experience?
What’s the big deal?
There are many respectable blogs out there. Many respected writers, editorialists and journalists have their own blogs that provide more information for people who want it. This is a great use of this new, stylish technology. However, there are a couple facts that are a cause for worry. Wonkette.com is a Web site that describes itself as “politics for people with dirty minds.” Wonkette creator Nick Denton said, “I think it's implicit in the way that a Web site is produced that our standards of accuracy are lower. Besides, immediacy is more important than accuracy, and humor is more important than accuracy."
Denton's site won “Best Political Weblog” in the 2005 Bloggies Awards.
Other reasons:
- Bloggers can write about an issue when they feel like it. They are not obligated to do follow-ups or even write ever again. It is a reporter’s job to follow-up and cover an issue completely.
- Anyone can find a blogger that fits his or her point-of-view. This doesn’t expand one’s mind, it only narrows it. Reporters are expected to be objective and present both sides of every story.
- Reporter must admit their mistakes and they are held accountable for their actions. They also make it easy for readers to contact them with complaints or suggestions. Bloggers can avoid any criticism and are not attached to anything they say, unless they provide accurate contact information, which is not always required.
- A reporter has respectability and viable connections. If you were a public official, would you talk to Jonathan McVerry from the New York Times or Joe Shmo from joeshmo.blogger.com?
Blogged down
In the blogosphere, the audience is the writer and editor, democracy is in its truest form and news is free from corporate interests (not self interest though). This is the radical nature of blogs. Let them expand our perspectives, let them promote interactivity, let them invoke public discussion and even let them speculate from time to time, but never let them take the place of your favorite newspaper or news show.
That would be a bad idea.
# posted by Jonathan : 4:34 PM
