There’s a column moving today on the Romenesko journalism Web site that suggests that bloggers have all the fun and the mainstream media, known often as the MSM (and not be confused with MSNBC) are stuck in a death spiral of depression and despair.
Can’t speak for all journalists in either camp, but I beg to differ. Blogging is a lot of fun, but it can be work, too. And being part of the horde and herd of the MSM is work, but it’s often a great deal of fun. Where I think they are different, at least for me, is that blogging is very much a solo sport. It’s me and my ideas. Journalism—at least the journalism we practice here—is very much a team sport. The discussions and debates about what to do and how to do it are the best part of the job.
Sometimes, it’s nice to retreat to the blog cave, but coffee and conversation with the world are a journalist’s best friend.
Headline I wanted to see somewhere after the U.S. lost in the World Cup yesterday: Going, going, Ghana
Happy Friday.
Your host is Ken Otterbourg, the managing editor at the Winston-Salem Journal. It's a forum to discuss the media, from
The thing that makes blogging fun, I think, is that autonomy. You get to be your own editor. Your idea, presented in your way, without having to have anything approved or suggested or diluted or added to by someone else. That isn’t always a good thing—newspapers have editors for a reason—but the personal voice that comes through in the best blogs is largely due to their being the product of a singular vision.
Unless you disagree with what they’re saying, of course. Then they’re junk.
Writing for a newspaper is also fun, or should be. But it’s a different kind of fun. Again, the best newspaper writing employs a strong voice. But it’s harder to come by as a group effort.
Blogging and newspaper writing differ in several ways. Newspaper writers have deadlines that bloggers don’t. Oh sure, a blogger has to keep feeding the machine but not in the same way. No one looses his/her blog because he/she didn’t post on a given day. But try not showing up for work. Most bloggers aren’t paid to write blogs. Unfortunately that may mean they don’t think it’s as important as a job. (If you think, life is money, it isn’t. The blog will go on a busy day. ) Journalists expect to be paid, although guest columnists sometimes aren’t. Blogs create an outlet for writing at all levels of expertise. While both bloggers and journalists are responsible for what they say—once in print or on the web, it’s archived forever—the blogger doesn’t have to hold a meeting decide what to post. Some people are sick of meetings. The downside is a lack of new ideas. A blogger is his/her own boss, the editor of the blog. And there is no need to maintain balance (as there is in a newspaper) of even to pretend to. I think that’s a biggie. (I have no pictures on my blog. So what? And I don’t like sarcasm, so I don’t use it.) The “fun” of blogging is not “being published,” because you really aren’t, but having virtual conversations with those who leave comments. The blogger isn’t in a cave: It’s different world--a world where one can discuss mainstream news or post personal unknown news. And he blog is the thing, when it comes to free, blatant self-promototion.
Full disclosure: I’m a copy editor at the Journal.
I’m here to grant your headline wish:
http://216.239.51.104/search?q=cache:ssdn4F46EEYJ:espn.go.com/+espn+going+going+ghana&hl=en&gl=us&ct=clnk&cd=1
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