Says Michael Sippey:
after reading two multi-thousand word articles... i was reminded again (um, duh) just how radically different great journalism is from weblogging. it amazes me that people even have the gall to make that assertion.
According to Derek Powazek:
Anyone who confuses weblogs for journalism should probably read more work like this, to remember what journalism, real journalism, really is.
But Doc Searls opines:
Journalism as Usual is threatened by the blogging movement because blogging enlarges the circle that defines journalism and redistributes power outside the old center. Suddenly almost anybody with a blog is in a position to know, to inform and to influence.
The secret, of course, is that they're talking about different aspects of The Great War Between Weblogs and Journalism. Maybe someday I'll articulate the distinction better, but let it suffice for now to say that weblogs favor their home territory, and that journalism about technology and the culture of technology tends to be much better represented by weblogs than traditional from-on-high journalism. Apologies to the entirety of Ziff Davis.
Weblogs also excel in communicating their authors' voices, and in riffing on the minutia of celebrity and fandom and snarkiness about culture in general. Journalism in its traditional form excels in the well-researched, investigative tradition that weblogs almost entirely omit.
To wit, I have a half-dozen longer essays, replete with sources and research and well thought-out links, but they've never been posted because I haven't had the attention span to finish writing or editing them. That's why I have a weblog.
Also, letters to the editor aren't as satisfying as comments.
