Comment Re:Why Blogging Matters (Score 1) 231
I'm sorry, but blogging is just a way for anyone, and I mean ANYONE, to add their little editorials to news. The only sizeable "breaking news" claim most people have posted is the Rather story, yet that was debunked all over by anyone with a copy of the letter and an experience with military typewriters. The only reason blogs are credited with this crap is because that's where it was easiest to collaborate this information, but I heard about it at the same time from online forums anyway. Think about it that way as well: if blogs are a good way to disseminate information (rofl), then forums would be even better because they're a multi-person collaborative effort to link stuff. But, anyone with half a brain and a knowledge of "freepers" would know that's not even the case.
99.99999% of what these bloggers write is editorial "snapshots" of news stories. They might link a news article, but they're far from aggregators: most only link things pertinent to their political interests, and ignore all else. Anyone who would mostly rely on blogs for news links would most likely have a slanted view of news, spattered with all manner of linked editorials from print and online newspapers. Actually reading the newspapers that are linked would do you 10x as good as reading thousands of different blogs, because those people actually know journalism, and you get the newswire stories from AP, Reuters, and other organizations. You also get to read all the editorials they link, and the one's they don't because they don't fit the political bent of the blog.
Personally, I believe blogging doesn't really matter, except in disseminating opinion and views. One exception one might make is the blogs from people in Iraq give their take on what's happening from there, but that's just one person's take...if they're having a great time, or an exceptionally crappy time, they're going to put that point across, and people will use it to generalize the entire situation in that region.
But, people latch onto blogs because they're quick and easy reads...they don't have to actually pick up a whole paper when they can get these little self-serving newsbriefs. These things appeal to those with a short attention span and a narrowmind, no matter which side you're on. I'm sorry, but anyone in their right mind who's been on the internet for as long as I have pretty much doesn't give a flying crap about blogs, unless they're funny, or they're made by someone we know. They're not a format to disseminate news, because it's all coming from a person, or just a few people, and it all links existing news sources anyway. Do what those bloggers do and actually read the news.
P.S.: watching cable news isn't the same as reading a paper either, but I digress.
99.99999% of what these bloggers write is editorial "snapshots" of news stories. They might link a news article, but they're far from aggregators: most only link things pertinent to their political interests, and ignore all else. Anyone who would mostly rely on blogs for news links would most likely have a slanted view of news, spattered with all manner of linked editorials from print and online newspapers. Actually reading the newspapers that are linked would do you 10x as good as reading thousands of different blogs, because those people actually know journalism, and you get the newswire stories from AP, Reuters, and other organizations. You also get to read all the editorials they link, and the one's they don't because they don't fit the political bent of the blog.
Personally, I believe blogging doesn't really matter, except in disseminating opinion and views. One exception one might make is the blogs from people in Iraq give their take on what's happening from there, but that's just one person's take...if they're having a great time, or an exceptionally crappy time, they're going to put that point across, and people will use it to generalize the entire situation in that region.
But, people latch onto blogs because they're quick and easy reads...they don't have to actually pick up a whole paper when they can get these little self-serving newsbriefs. These things appeal to those with a short attention span and a narrowmind, no matter which side you're on. I'm sorry, but anyone in their right mind who's been on the internet for as long as I have pretty much doesn't give a flying crap about blogs, unless they're funny, or they're made by someone we know. They're not a format to disseminate news, because it's all coming from a person, or just a few people, and it all links existing news sources anyway. Do what those bloggers do and actually read the news.
P.S.: watching cable news isn't the same as reading a paper either, but I digress.
