Blogs in Newsland
Wired News has an article about how bloggers helped break several news stories in 2002. Although blog biggies Glenn Reynolds and Joshua Micah Marshall are both discussed, Meryl Yourish is also given a nod for having led the charge to bring the attack of a group of Hillel students at San Francisco State University by pro-Palestian protestors to national attention. Yay Meryl!
The article is a positive one. There is one naysayer, who will probably now rue the day she ever uttered these words to Noah Schachtman, as I've already seen them posted on several blogs:
"Bloggers are navel-gazers," said Elizabeth Osder, a visiting professor at The University of Southern California's School of Journalism. "And they're about as interesting as friends who make you look at their scrap books."She added, "There's an overfascination here with self-expression, with opinion. This is opinion without expertise, without resources, without reporting."
You know the difference between bloggers and friends who make you look at their scrap books? The difference is that no one makes anyone else look at a blog. You can choose to click and read one or bypass it completely. Harder to do that with your friends who invite you over to show you pictures of their fun-filled trip to DisneyWorld.
I was, however, previously unaware that there was a problem with us plain folk having opinions and expressing them. I thought we all did that every day in talking to our families, friends, and colleagues. What a horrible thing, to express them in a medium open to millions. You never know, you might actually learn something the media doesn't cover. Perhaps that's the real sin.
Comments
"...opinion without expertise, without resources..."???
That's weird, most of the blogs I know have copious amounts of both. I mean, the woman does get the point of hyperlinks, doesn't she? And you can't get much more "expertise" than people who blog about what they do for a living or what their families are going through. I think it's exactly as you say, Lesley, an elite opinion by someone who feels ordinary folks (and extraordinary ones who aren't elites) are somehow less credentialed, less entitled to opinions than folks with connections and advanced degrees (and by the way Ms. Osder a lot of bloggers do have advanced degrees as well).
Posted by: Elayne Riggs | December 24, 2002 11:14 AM
Nah, you don't get it, Lesley. SHE is a SERIOUS PROFESSIONAL. WE are AMATEURS. Therefore, since we didn't go to multiple universities for multiple degrees, we can't possibly have any kind of expertise in any subject.
Never mind that I have a 20-plus year career in publishing to draw from, I know nothing. Forget about Eugene Volokh and his law degree. Or Susanna Cornett's experience in law enforcement. Or Sgt. Stryker's military expertise.
We're all ignorant navel-gazers.
And Elizabeth Osder's a schmuck.
Posted by: Meryl Yourish | December 27, 2002 01:55 PM
I like this site
Posted by: Amir | July 8, 2004 01:20 AM