Blogs are readers’ way of telling Old Media what they want that’s been missing 6/20/08
Posted by Steve Boriss in Blogs.trackback
As Time Magazine points out, when blogs first came out there seemed to be a division of labor – Old Media broke news, while blogs dispensed opinion. But, that doesn’t really tell the story. Blogs dispensed opinion readers found lacking in fact-obsessed Old Media. Blogs offered style found lacking in the dull formulas of Old Media. Blogs projected a likeable personality and a sense of belonging found lacking in the anonymous and institutional style of Old Media.
Eventually, blogs began to provide storylines traditionally found lacking in Old Media. The media criticism that could take down a Dan Rather. The easily-missed remarks at a Strom Thurmond birthday that could take down a Trent Lott. The Swift Boat veteran attacks on media-preferred candidate John Kerry. The persistence that could unravel Attorney General Gonzales’ career. And recently, the willingness to flout journalism protocol, allowing citizen journalist Mayhill Flower to catch Obama diss rural Pennsylvanians and Bill Clinton badmouth someone who wrote an unflattering article.
So rather than spend time looking at bloggers and enumerating their differences, perhaps Old Media should simply be asking “why can’t I do that?”
[...] out the junk (which is most of it), and come up with a reasoned opinion. Even better if it’s partisan slanted. It makes me want to go find what the other side is [...]