WSJ says bloggers are predictable.. boring.. insignificant

samhain · #1 12-22-2006, 09:45 PM

The blogs are not as significant as their self-endeared curators would like to think. Journalism requires journalists, who are at least fitfully confronting the digital age. The bloggers, for their part, produce minimal reportage. Instead, they ride along with the MSM like remora fish on the bellies of sharks, picking at the scraps.

-Joseph Rago - Wall Street Journal

http://www.opinionjournal.com/extra/?id=110009409

I Lol'd at this article.. If all of what he says is true, then why is he crying about it? I enjoy how he tries then follow up his tirade with a demonstration of how eloquent he is.

In my opinion this dood is a big RTard. And for a publication like the WSJ to deny the future of media will hurt them long term. I worked in the newspaper business for many years and they were the last industry to embrace technology. They are old-guards fighting for the way things used to be. Newsprint media outlets to this day think that print media is the future and the internet is a fad.

Tarinth · #2 12-22-2006, 10:23 PM

Most blogs are basically journal-entries that are of little interest outside someone's immediate group of friends/peers.

But there's also a large number of very good blogs, and some of them cater to specific areas of interest and contain more up-to-date information than you can find in other media.

I think a lot of newspapers were saying the same sort of things about the Web back in 1994, so they haven't changed much--which is the defining characteristic of a dinosaur.

Roxianna · #3 12-22-2006, 10:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tarinth

Most blogs are basically journal-entries that are of little interest outside someone's immediate group of friends/peers.

Blogs contain news customized to the smallest of groups--family and friends! That's the beauty. A professional jouralist sniffling about this makes a much sense as Ansel Adams criticizing the artistic merits lacking in snapshots of my grandchildren.

Armaya · #4 12-22-2006, 11:07 PM

The odd thing is, before blogs became the rage, I made my break into journalism writing about....my friends and family. Sounds like a blog, huh? I just made sure it was packed full of the humorous side of things that happen to most of us. I called it "The Mother Load" so obviously it was mostly about parenting and my kids.

What started as a personal interest column in a local newspaper morphed until it eventually got picked up by a magazine, and now it runs internationally.

So yes, "blog" type info can, and is, read by the masses if it's directed to the right audience and delivered in the right style.

Shadow · #5 12-22-2006, 11:37 PM

my blog is pretty predictable, I agree... its good all the time!!!

samhain · #6 12-23-2006, 12:56 AM

I think blogs are going mainstream. Most forward thinking businesses are investing in blogging. Nintendo's method of press releases is now via blogs.

Companies are realizing the value of effective blogging. In the past a company would send a release out to 2,000 agencies, hoping 5-10% will pick up the story.

Now the companies are just blogging it out and reaching everyone in their intended audience.

People are losing faith in traditional mainstream journalists. They would rather get their information from the source. Which is a reverse trend in journalism. It used to be that you wanted the information from the journalist's non-biased point of view on a product, event or news item.

People now worry about how a journalist is skewing the facts for his own personal agenda or gain.

Incidentally, I read that article from somebody's blog.. Not because i frequent the Wall Street Journal.. So that should tell you that WSJ's main stream marketing is less valuable than the blog I found it on.

Shadow · #7 12-23-2006, 01:25 AM

its a double edged sword the reason we have journalist is so that they can do the research and then report the facts and ask intelligent questions, bloggers don't always do the research and companies can tell half truths..... perfect example is ummmm ENRON

unbeliever · #8 12-23-2006, 03:09 AM

well, my readers are imbeciles, he got that part right!

Twilight Destiny · #9 12-23-2006, 09:30 PM

Wow, I am really surprised that someone wrote about this, but the title seems so unprofessional. Then again I never really update my blog a lot just when I feel like it and usually...I guess it is a little predictable. Saying that "Written by fools to be read by imbeciles." isn't nice at all though, how would he be said to "written by professionals, cared by no one" ...(that was a little mean of me) (and I think I went totally of topic there for some reason...must be the candy I had a few hours ago)