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Every time I hear someone say that democracy won't suffer as professional news orgs fold and that bloggers will fill the void I think of stories like this.

by msy 14y ago

jcbrand 14y ago
You mean the same professional news orgs that publish 14 stories on Pussy Riot's plight but only a brief bit of wire copy from AP concerning Bradley Manning's first week of testimony? http://t.co/dCsfOEsf http://t.co/dCsfOEsf
- mitchty 14y ago
  Exactly, expecting that "professional" news reporters and journalists don't operate under other biases is also naive. Bloggers have their flaws, but so does mainstream news.
- msy 14y ago
  That very article points out the best coverage of the trial has come from the Guardian, the second largest paper in the UK and now one of the largest by uniques in the world.
danielweber 14y ago
How much faith do people put in blogs? I'd hope it wasn't as much as mainstream sources, who can rely on their brand. Bloggers (usually) need to produce primary documents to justify their claims. A few year ago on April 1st, a bunch of bloggers got together and did this entire chain of a fake news story, each linking to the next one in the ring as "proof" of their story, no one actually ever leaving the ring. I thought it was amazingly self-insightful of them.
InclinedPlane 14y ago
The conceit here is the idea that the traditional news organizations are reliable, honest, expert, and doggedly pursue the truth. This just isn't true. Some of them do, certainly, but in the average case they're just another bunch of lazy, self-interested folks who are looking for the easiest ways to get attention and generate ad revenue. There's nothing special about blogging, it's just a medium. Organizations build up trust through their track record, the same as in any medium. There exists tabloids and authoritative news outlets in the print world too.

Every time I hear someone say that democracy won't suffer as professional news orgs fold and that bloggers will fill the void I think of stories like this.

by msy 14y ago

Every time I hear someone say that democracy won't suffer as professional news orgs fold and that bloggers will fill the void I think of stories like this.

jcbrand 14y ago

You mean the same professional news orgs that publish 14 stories on Pussy Riot's plight but only a brief bit of wire copy from AP concerning Bradley Manning's first week of testimony? http://t.co/dCsfOEsf http://t.co/dCsfOEsf

mitchty 14y ago
Exactly, expecting that "professional" news reporters and journalists don't operate under other biases is also naive. Bloggers have their flaws, but so does mainstream news.
msy 14y ago
That very article points out the best coverage of the trial has come from the Guardian, the second largest paper in the UK and now one of the largest by uniques in the world.

danielweber 14y ago

How much faith do people put in blogs? I'd hope it wasn't as much as mainstream sources, who can rely on their brand. Bloggers (usually) need to produce primary documents to justify their claims. A few year ago on April 1st, a bunch of bloggers got together and did this entire chain of a fake news story, each linking to the next one in the ring as "proof" of their story, no one actually ever leaving the ring. I thought it was amazingly self-insightful of them.

InclinedPlane 14y ago

The conceit here is the idea that the traditional news organizations are reliable, honest, expert, and doggedly pursue the truth. This just isn't true. Some of them do, certainly, but in the average case they're just another bunch of lazy, self-interested folks who are looking for the easiest ways to get attention and generate ad revenue. There's nothing special about blogging, it's just a medium. Organizations build up trust through their track record, the same as in any medium. There exists tabloids and authoritative news outlets in the print world too.