Journalists AGAINST Bloggers

In my last two posts we got to know the opinions of one rather radical and one more neutral blogger on the debate “Journalists versus/and Bloggers”.

This post shall give some space to Journalists who express their skepticism/anger towards bloggers – to see the other side of the coin.

The following statements are quotes extracted from articles and can therefore not completely represent the opinion of the journalists. Many of these articles do point out positive aspects about blogging, as well. Nevertheless, things were written the way they are quoted below.

Only Gossip

“The blogosphere is the loudest corner of the Internet, noisy with disputation, manifesto-like postings and an unbecoming hatred of enemies real and imagined.” (Michael Skube)

Arrogance and Irresponsibility

“Moulitsas (Markos Moulitsas Zuniga, Daily Kos) foresees bloggers becoming the watchdogs that watch the watchdog: ‘ We need to keep the media honest, but as an institution, it's important that they exist and do their job well.’ The tone is telling: breezy, confident, self-congratulatory. Subtly, it implies bloggers have all the liberties of a traditional journalist but few of the obligations.” (Michael Skube)

“Everyone has a story to tell, but everyone is not a natural-born storyteller. Everyone has a right to an opinion, but a lot of people confuse it with meaningless fuming and ranting. (…) A lot of people are sick of being nobody. (…) Their thoughts are someone else's opinions and their lives a second-hand mimicry of others' life. Such people form groups, stick together and find comfort in each others' miseries.” (Shobhan Saxena)

Lack of knowledge and Professionalism

"It's like all stuff on the web," Mike Smartt, editor of BBC News Online, told dotJournalism. "Dissemination of information is great, but how much of it is trustworthy? They are an interesting phenomenon, but I don't think they will be as talked about in a year's time." (Mike Smartt quoted by Jody Raynsford)

“One gets the uneasy sense that the blogosphere is a potpourri of opinion and little more. The opinions are occasionally informed, often tiresomely cranky and never in doubt. Skepticism, restraint, a willingness to suspect judgment and to put oneself in the background -- these would not seem to be a blogger's trademarks.” (Michael Skube)

“They are opinionated, ranting, often incoherent and frequently biased with little regard for accuracy or balance. They are also compellingly addictive and threatening to emerge as a new brand of journalism…” (Jody Raynsford)

“It's good fun, but this is no journalism. Learning and mastering good journalism is tough. You learn it in libraries, on flooded streets, in front of a rioting mob, in the middle of crossfire between a militia and a military, in war trenches, in the corridors of power and in the hamlets of deprivation. (…) Bloggers don't have to worry about such inane things. They can learn history and politics from google. They can get their facts from newspapers and then slam them with their half-baked opinions.“ (Shobhan Saxena)

I took these quotes from the following articles:

- Blogs: All the noise that fits

The hard-line opinions on weblogs are no substitute for the patient fact-

finding of reporters.

by Michael Skube

19/8/2007

To the article: http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-op-skube19aug19,0,3547019.story

- Blogging: the new journalism?

by Jody Raynsford

25/03/03

To the article: http://www.journalism.co.uk/5/articles/5604.php

- Bloggers' rubbish

by Shobhan Saxena

1/10/2006

To the article: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Bloggers-

rubbish/articleshow/2056809.cms