The world according to Blog

Hey, it’s no weirder than Garp.  Or Zork.  Though the latter was more fun.

Interesting articleif deeply flawed – in Tuesday’s Wall Street Journal about blogging. The numbers are dubious at best, and although the article is aimed at “professional” bloggers (those who monetize, or attempt to monetize, their blogging to make a living off of it), writer Mark Penn raises some provocative notions regarding blogs in general:

For now, bloggers say they are overwhelmingly happy in their work, reporting high job satisfaction. But what happens if they, too, lose work; are they covered by unemployment insurance if tastes change and their sites go under? Are they considered journalists under shield laws? Are they subject to libel suits? Are there any limits to the opinions they churn out, or any standards to rein them in? Is there someone to complain to about false blogs or hidden conflicts? At the recent Consumer Electronics Show, Panasonic outfitted bloggers with free Panasonic equipment; did that affect their opinions about the companies they wrote about? There are more questions than answers about America’s Newest Profession.

Ignore the profession comment, as that term nowhere near applies (according to the OED, professions involve the application of specialised knowledge of a subject, field, or science to fee-paying clientele).  In fact, ignore the idea that you’re doing anything more than I am and spewing your thoughts onto a screen.  Those questions certainly still remain.

We’ve stepped into an age where anyone can call themselves a reporter, and it’s up to the reader to determine how much trust they will give to a source.  On a blog like this or Jason Mulgrew’s or Dooce, it’s not a big question, but then you’ve got all of the political blogs passing off opinion as fact (or worse, fiction or fantasy as fact).  You’ve got people presenting legal or economic advice with what may or may not be real-world experience and credentials.  Even my oldest friend Wade, who mostly writes haikus and and entertainment-related reviews, runs occasional newsworthy pieces.

(Quick note: Wade is a very experienced journalist with incredibly high-standards and a strong understanding of journalistic ethics.  These concerns aren’t inspired by him — in fact, if you want to make sure that you don’t have to worry about them, hire him as a consultant or take one of his classes.)

But here’s an example of my concerns, and a surprising one, at that:

It is hard to think of another job category that has grown so quickly and become such a force in society without having any tests, degrees, or regulation of virtually any kind. Courses on blogging are now cropping up, and we can’t be far away from the Columbia School of Bloggerism. There is a lot of interest now in Twittering and Facebooking — but those venues don’t offer the career opportunities of blogging. Not since eBay opened its doors have so many been able to sit at their computer screens and make some money, or even make a whole living.

This is from that same article, by the way, and it’s based on what (in my very untrained opinion) terrible research methodology.  But it’s presented as fact, and if it’s in the WSJ, then it’s gotta be true, right?  I mean, that’s THE source for financial information.

And yet….

Just because you read it doesn’t mean it’s true, folks.  And just because you write it on a blog instead of in a published paper doesn’t mean that you’re necessarily exempt from consequences, positive and negative.

In other news, Jason Mulgrew is actually a married man living in France. All that stuff about NYC and LA is made up.  You heard it here first.

One thought on “The world according to Blog

  1. A phrase I’ve been hearing lately is “Newspapers are dying, but news isn’t.”

    We need journalism. Unfortunately, we’re not really good at practicing journalism online in a credible and profitable way. We all want free, and we want it accurate, and even entertaining.

    Mixed up in all of this is the generic term “blogging.” So if a blogger says it, is it news, or opinion, or blog, or crap?

    (And if a newspaper reporter says it, same questions.)

    I would love for everyone to be more savvy about their media consumption. But, like you, I think people would rather take shortcuts and spew nonsense about conspiracies, bias, and agendas.

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