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I agree DarrkeThoughts but many regard themselves as hard news sources
posted by
Azur
on March 29, 2005 at 8:23 PM
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I think blogs will always be more editorial than hard news. Then again, on Blogit there is this whole virtual social network thing happening too...it's like a support group sometimes, or recess...
posted by
DarrkeThoughts
on March 29, 2005 at 8:18 PM
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Decshak, I would agree with your summation here. I tend not to read tabloids either but I read the broadsheets with a grain of salt asking myself whether the story is valid and applies proper news values. I guess it is like any club here too where there are always cliques or factions and some voices which are noisier but where everyone has the right speak by virtue of being a member
posted by
Azur
on March 26, 2005 at 11:22 AM
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I-R_William, it becomes a little like Chinese whispers and rumor and hearsay is given credence as news. Sometimes here it happens when people simply put the word "news" in their title. When they do that I look very closely to see if that is so. In the case of blogs it almost never is news, well not new news.
posted by
Azur
on March 26, 2005 at 11:17 AM
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Benzinha, I can imagine how some people over-inflate their opinions of themselves when they start to believe they are a news source. I must take a look at that as an observer.
posted by
Azur
on March 26, 2005 at 11:14 AM
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MayB, when you open a blog on MSN Spaces, they ask you to check a box on
your personal homepage set up, indicating whether you want to be syndicated or not, read by real news people or not.
Of course, knowing that my blog was useless and silly opinion and rehashed news and personal gossip, I checked the darned button. What a silly thing to offer regular bloggers, the choice of a syndication button or not. Then, you are offered a tracking function which shows you just who reads you and where they come from, to find you. I have found CNN and CBS on my stats pages and cracked up!!!!
Does this explain how I think on this subject? Sure it does.
posted by
benzinha
on March 25, 2005 at 9:55 PM
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MayB, Good day to you.
As in any other community, information becomes misinformation and from this, urban legends are born. When watching or listening to world events, I try to examine everything. It has been too often when every news source has had a different story to tell on the same subject. Like bystanders at a bad accident, they all see the same thing, but each witness gives a different accounting. When I read the blogs I look for the sources of information. There are many instances where an individual was misinformed, could not provide reliable sources and the end result was,
"Clean out your desk, You are outta here !!" Using blogs as a news source , is similar to a lion tamer placing his head inside a lion's mouth. You had better be feeding that lion a proper diet, or your head might be his next snack. ( I apologize for the long post. I get carried away sometimes )
posted by
I-R-William
on March 25, 2005 at 9:54 AM
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Nobody has stopped those tabloids from writing trash. You are correct in
your attitude toward news. You should go where you feel the people have standards that are as stringent as your own. It is your choice. Just as I don't buy tabloids, you have the right to dismiss claims from bloggers. But don't try and deny us bloggers or anyone else, who is not trying to start a stampede or something, the right to voice their opinions. I think of this as a private club, especially since the membership fee has been raised. While some brief snatches of our works are indexed on Google, the general public still can't see our work. So it is a private club of people who like to try to improve their writing, build relationships with other bloggers, or to merely use this as a filing system for their journals. This is a place that is actually more private than newspapers and magazines. And each of us can invite others to join in these activities or to sample our wares. It is everyone's CHOICE, not a demand, to read whatever you like and forget whatever you don't like or try to change it or rail against it, whatever....
posted by
WindTapper
on March 25, 2005 at 9:08 AM
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Pleased to hear it Tapsel-T. I agree although some journalism entertains me too
posted by
Azur
on March 25, 2005 at 6:20 AM
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MayB - I go to blogging for entertainment and opinions. For news I go to what the journalists write.
posted by
TAPS.
on March 24, 2005 at 9:29 PM
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Talion, this is why I think that to say that bloggers are all journalists is like the difference between being treated by a surgeon and a doctor not yet trained in surgery
posted by
Azur
on March 24, 2005 at 9:13 PM
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No more than I would go to an amateur to fix my car or clean my teeth would I go to a blog site (this one included) for my only source of news. There are no checks and balances, no one to answer to. It's the epitome of the honor system and nowadays, that's just not good enough.
posted by
Talion
on March 24, 2005 at 9:04 PM
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Wiley, yes I agree that's what a lot of blogs are. Sometimes I think people forget that
posted by
Azur
on March 24, 2005 at 9:01 PM
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Spitfire, thanks for the comment. I am somewhat shocked when I sometimes read people who say that they take no notice of news sites and that blogs give more news. It's true that a lot of people use blogs as a device to take a piece out of people they dislike and disagree with
posted by
Azur
on March 24, 2005 at 9:00 PM
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Kingmi, I think that bloggers provide the sidebars to the news, the human stories which run alongside the news.
posted by
Azur
on March 24, 2005 at 8:58 PM
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MayB, Very good perception on your part, I guess we are sort of news analysts for our point of view. Just like the columnists in the NYT of other mainstream media. But I agree that blogs have a deepening effect on the texture of life. Good post. And thanks for the visit, comment and time together.
posted by
kingmi
on March 24, 2005 at 3:55 PM
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MayB, I understand what you're saying
here. I must just say, IMO that if anyone is going to read a blog that is posted in a "blogging site" then they should know that it is opinion and maybe not factual. If a blogger wants a post to be taken as fact, they usually state where they got the info and quote whomever is to be quoted (and their source.) If someone wants facts, they should go to an actual news site. I do feel that if a blogger is to give out certain info such as something that can be constude as a liability, such as threatening, personal attacks, etc. they should be held responsible for any actions taken against them. (i.e. slander) But like I said, blogs are blogs and if I was interested in a certain post, I'd contact the blogger and ask where I could find out more.
posted by
SpitFire70
on March 24, 2005 at 3:04 PM
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MayB
Well I',m just an old duffer passing time but sometimes when the TV is playing behind me I'll repeat a story from there in my own words kind of thing. Hey May B, how much trouble can an ex-mechanic get into there anyway luv?
Happy Easter luv
posted by
WileyJohn
on March 24, 2005 at 2:57 PM
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Thanks for providing a basis for discussion. I think the opinion you posted which I appreciate is not your own is way too generalized. You won't mind I assume if I do discuss it. I guess you put it up as information only but I tend to think that anything I post is fair game for discussion.
I am concerned that very generalized comments about journalists v bloggers do not reflect the realities and perpetuate some myths. It should be kept in mind too that many journalists blog.
posted by
Azur
on March 24, 2005 at 2:22 PM
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If you are referring to my post
It came directly from a news source. My husband told me that journalists were bashing bloggers. I do not wish to debate this because it is not my opinion, but that of someone else's opinion.
posted by
Sherri_G
on March 24, 2005 at 2:10 PM
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