Comments on: The Blogging Debate

By: Ainz

Ainz — Wed, 28 Mar 2007 06:12:47 +0000

As a so-called professional journalist for 20 years — all of it in newspapers with a little bit of freelance magazine work on the side — I worry about the demise of unbiased reporting and analysis. It’s certainly dying. There’s less of a demand for it. Shoot, I’d love to be a journalism teacher, but traditional journalism is all but dead. I volunteer in the student newspaper at our local high school and all the kids want to do is spew opinions. They’re too lazy to dig up any facts. Even the CEO of Google, shown on a PBS Frontline report, was saying that he worries about the future of newspapers and unbiased reporting because Google needs something to link to that has credibility. Indeed, the most credible and unbiased reporting still happens at the newspaper level. But alas, the Web has given everybody a voice (some more legit than others) and the readers love all that opinion. I appreciate blogs — like yours, Jay — that are clearly a mix of facts from legit sources and your own opinion. You bounce back and forth and present thoughts for what they’re worth. More power to you. But I’d say 90 percent of the blogs I’ve seen are exercises in vanity and totally amateur when it comes to shedding new light and presenting fresh facts. Too bad.

By: Mark

Mark — Wed, 28 Mar 2007 00:37:23 +0000

Great anti-spam word.

Ultimately, what defines legitimacy, in both the traditional print world and in the blogging world, is the quality of the work. If a blogger (such as yourself) consistently achieves insight, objectivity, and accuracy, that blog will come to be viewed as authoritative. If it’s less than that, it’ll be viewed as a joke. The medium is less important than the output.

By: Greg Clow

Greg Clow — Tue, 27 Mar 2007 15:22:13 +0000

Your friend definitely was on to something with his comment about beer blogging being relatively young compared to food & wine blogs.

While I’m sure there are still a lot of awful food & wine blogs out there, the really good ones have gained enough prominence that the bad ones are being drowned out – and in many cases, abandoned. And in turn, those quality blogs have gained more and more recognition and respect, leading to everything from book deals for food bloggers, to restaurants taking bloggers opinions as seriously – if not more so – than reviewers in more traditional media.

Beer blogs aren’t there yet, but it’s starting. Blogs like yours and Alan’s and Stan’s are rising to the top, and the weaker ones are dropping. And people are starting to pay attention. Even my humble little blog has gotten me free admission to a few events, and free beer from a few different sources. Not that I’m in it for the free stuff alone, of course, but it tends to be an indicator that the industry is recognising the power of blogs.

By: Loren

Loren — Tue, 27 Mar 2007 11:32:54 +0000

Blogs are less impersonal and not as open to the feeding frenzy style discussions found on other “websites”. I personally find the ones I frequent as a breath of fresh air compared to the usual attacking style forums found elsewhere.

Blogs are simply another way to voice an opinion. Without as much antagonistic rebuttal. Until you say something I don’t agree with.

:-)

Cheers!