Blogs vs News Sites
Mike from Heavywinter just wrote a post to state his disappointment in today’s news media. Like many bloggers out there, Mike chooses Blogosphere when it comes to digging newsworthy articles to read. As he stated in his post:
…train wrecks, abductions, wheather phenomenon, killings, etc. There’s nothing truly new about that stuff. …Different names, different places, different dates, but nothing truly new among it.
But what about the 90% heating bill increase warning that will affect our wallets soon, or Greenspan’s Jan 31 step down plan that will eventually affect every corner of the US financial sector?
I am not denying the powerful social influences caused by the 18 million blogs out there, and the 80,000 new ones being created every day. Comparing with one year ago when there were only 4 million blogs, today’s Blogosphere is filled with an incredible amount of information and the talents. Look! AOL is buying Weblog Inc! Finally, the mainstream is taking blogs seriously. However, as you all noticed, the blog articles simply either link to the original sources, comment on the original sources or do both. So, my argument is - why reading the second hand news when the original sources are available?
Regardless how many brilliant articles Boing Boing has been collecting or Jason Kottke has been filtering, the blogs are simply not positioned to take over the roles of the traditional news sources. The reason is very simple - resource. The big boys such as CNN, NBC, USAToday, etc have the deep pockets AND the connections to get the stories that few bloggers can lay hands on. They have the money to hire experts from all areas to give in-depth analysis. They are able to walk into the press conferences hosted by the White House. And when you look at the big blog sites, they are still linking back to the news from Yahoo and Reuters’ RSS feeds.
Mike may be able to survive without newspapers and solely rely on the blog articles to get what he needs. I know I would be dead in the water if I don’t read USA Today, money.cnn.com or The Wall Street Journal. On the other hand, my day would be dead boring without digg.com’ geeky tech news and fark.com’s goofy odd news.
After all, the Internet readers are trying to find the best balance. We need to read original sources and we want to hear what people are saying. It’s like TV’s original dramas blended with the reality shows. So in my opinion, the traditional news sources and the Blogosphere work hand in hand to provide us with both sides of the world. The only thing we need to watch out is information overflow, ‘cause I am about to explode with a few dozen feeds I am scanning through each day! Soon, reading RSS feeds is going to become a full time job when each citizen owns 15 blog sites.
Happy reading everyone!
Heavywinter said,
October 9, 2005 @ 12:03 pm
I’m suggesting a lot of the “news” that big media companies pump out isn’t news at all. I’m not denying they have great reporting and important information. I’m simply saying they seem to spend an a lot of time on what I would consider fluff.
I’m definitely not saying I solely rely on blogs for news. I’m saying I don’t start with traditional, mainstream media sources because I don’t want to wade through their fluff to get to the good stuff. Instead, I start with blogs and let them act as a filter for me. I feel the blogosphere edits and judges materials much better than I have time to do by myself. It’s an emergent system. The best articles rise to the top whether they exist on some random person’s blog or at MSNBC.
So yes, as I’m tracking through my regular blogs and new ones I haven’t visited before, I end up on mainstream news sites through their links. I don’t have a problem with that and I don’t think I’m being hypocritical. I want to read important, timely news wherever it exists. The problem is that what I consider important is subjective. Clearly, mainstream media has to appeal to a very wide audience and that ends up being my complaint. So enter the blogosphere. Here, sites are much more niche oriented and are much more in line with what I believe and care about. I therefore have more tailor made sources of information at my fingertips.
Let’s not forget many journalists have their own blogs and therefore inject the blog world with first hand, credible sources of news. Even better, they’re free to analyze to a greater extent and not worry about space constraints, editors, pressure from advertisers, etc.
The only problem I really encounter is balance. I have to be alert enough to seek out opposing viewpoints to the stories and topics that interest me. Blogosphere to the rescue again. It’s easy here to find people with opposing views or perspectives.
Yuna said,
October 9, 2005 @ 2:24 pm
Hmm.. I see your point here…
I agree that one of the biggest impacts the blogs have created is to filter the news sources and present the materials that are worth reading. That’s the reason why I digg so much…
However, we are all individuals with very unique backgrounds, tastes and thinking structures. That’s why I don’t want to rely on other people’s “brains” to “feed” me with what I suppose to read. I prefer going to the first hand sources to filter by myself, especially in the areas where people’s analysis and opinions could distort the original events and contents. Finance is a big one here. I am a serious investor and I can’t afford to listen to other people’s perceptions about the stock market. A lot of times, I need the raw data which is only available on the big boy’s sites and newspapers
Heavywinter said,
October 9, 2005 @ 4:56 pm
All news has a bias no matter how subtle. If someone says Fox, liberals start to wretch. CNN is the same in reverse. Reporting is a human endeavor and therefore will take on some sort of spin. I think the blogosphere is simply more up front and honest about it.
I agrree with you though that it’s all subjective. What works for one person won’t for another. That’s why I started the original post. I’m glad to hear other viewpoints.
Yuna said,
October 9, 2005 @ 10:47 pm
I question citizen journalists’ authority and accuracy in their reporting, simply because most of us are not trained and forget to double check what we have said, although I do believe majority of us are up front with our opinions. I read blogs for two reasons:
1. Grassroots journalism can truly dig out some hidden cool stories that mainstream may not care to report
2. People’s opinions on events. There is a reason why we love reality shows. Blogs are like the reality shows on the internet. There is a real person behind each blog
Laura said,
October 10, 2005 @ 9:00 am
I think I’m in agreement with Christine on this one. I can see Mike’s point, but I also worry about the notion of letting blogs or other individuals “filter” the news for me. True, major news sources are biased and do lots of filtering before we even see the news, but I think it’s dangerous to get into the habit of only seeing what news “rises to the surface” in the blogging world. I think it’s our responsibility to look through various newsites and seek out the information from different sources so that we can form a picture of our own about what’s happening. I’m not sure I’m so good at this, but I think it’s important to try.
Another thing that this is reminiscent of to me is what I encounter in the university teaching setting. In today’s web savvy students, it’s more than a bit alarming to see that although these students are quite capable of googling information and finding sources online, they are horribly inept at distinguishing between reputable sources of information and information that any joe schmoe has put out there. This is the biggest problem that I see in relying on blogs to find news. Even if you end up at the legit news sites in the end, who knows what misinformation you’ve already biased yourself with in the meantime…
My 2 cents, take it or leave it!
Yuna said,
October 10, 2005 @ 5:45 pm
Discussions continue on the original thread at :
http://www.heavywinter.com/archives/000414.html
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