Bloggers versus MSM

August 31, 2008 3:00am by

Interesting discussion from the Denver Convention:

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Discussions found on the web:
  1. simon commented on Aug 31

    sanaha sanaha ahhh don’t theeenk it’ll ever happen…….

    There you have it. It’s going to happen sooner that you think.

    I listen to almost zero main stream media. I subscribe to feeds from blogs I’m interested in and on line magazines that I like. Using Google widgets I can get head lines from those magazines and just click h elinks that interest me.

    I’m appalled at what passes for news from the daily newspaper I read in the morning when I get my coffee.

    Bloggers such as BR and guests set the bar very high. They are experts in their field and yet they acknowledge they are searching for answers like everyone else.

    They seek a response from their audience and ask for that audience to make an effort to learn and engage with the topics.

    Generally they are not attempting to sell something to you.

    These are among the key characteristics of good sources of information.

    And besides newspapers are inevitably a day late.

    As for television…that you don’t get paid to have an audiovisual billboard in your lounge is more appalling than the patronizing rubbish you are supposed to watch between the adds.

  3. Dan Duncan commented on Aug 31

    Hello darkness, my old friend,
    I’ve come to talk with you again,
    Because a vision softly creeping,
    Left its seeds while I was sleeping,
    And the vision that was planted in my brain
    Still remains
    Within the sound of silence.

    —[The “I have something the rest of the world ‘needs’ to hear” moment from your typical blogger.]—

    In restless dreams I walked alone
    Narrow streets of cobblestone,
    ‘Neath the halo of a street lamp,
    I turned my collar to the cold and damp
    When my eyes were stabbed by the flash of a neon light
    That split the night
    And touched the sound of silence.

    —[Our Hero/Poet/Blogger knows what he or she must do…but The Blogger knows the journey will be lonely. Nevertheless, our intrepid Blogger digs deep, and somehow manages to find the resolve: “Soldier on I must…for I know the world needs me. It needs my opinion!”]—

    And in the naked light I saw
    Ten thousand people, maybe more.
    People talking without speaking,
    People hearing without listening,
    People writing songs that voices never share
    And no one dare
    Disturb the sound of silence.

    —[“Holy shit!” The blogger realizes there are A LOT of other bloggers out there.]—

    “Fools” said I, “You do not know
    Silence like a cancer grows.
    Hear my words that I might teach you,
    Take my arms that I might reach to you.”
    But my words like silent raindrops fell,
    And echoed
    In the wells of silence

    —[“Yes”, the blogger concedes—“there are A LOT of other bloggers, but come my children and follow ME…not those others. I will be your beacon, your harbor in the tempest! And I will sell you some great books, too.” ]—

    And the people bowed and prayed
    To the neon god they made.
    And the sign flashed out its warning,
    in the words that it was forming.
    And the sign said, “The words of the prophets are written on the subway walls
    And tenement halls.

    —[And on the webpage of every blogger who pays the $10.00 a month hosting fee.]—

    And whisper’d in the sounds of silence.

  4. leftback commented on Aug 31

    Probably the best thing about blogs is that they allow multi-talented people to set up a structure where they can cross-over between different topics without being hamstrung by being the “economics correspondent”. Barry wants to blog about jazz and politics? Fine, why not? This also draws an audience that is intelligent and can think outside the box, so that the comments are sometimes as thought-provoking as the material.

    The distinction between MSM and the blogosphere is no longer black and white now that many MSM journalists have their own blogs. That in itself is a sign that MSM are actually gleaning news and insight from blogs.

    I rarely do printed media now, not because I do not enjoy reading the paper, but because by the time I get to see it, the news has become the “olds”, as I will have already seen it reported, digested and spun on line, in different ways by different people.

    As for TV, it’s a good place to get the local weather and that’s about it. For business news, I have it on mute so I can just see the data. From time to time I turn up the sound for Santelli on CNBC or some of the excellent and informative guests with an understanding of the credit markets.

  5. BostonJoe commented on Aug 31

    Morning Joe ripping on the “Cheetos” brigade. Angry right and left wing people in their basement. One thing blogs have done, it seems to me, is to re-democratize speech in a mass media age. Without blogs, we were completely at the whim of the political slants of corporate owners of media (who in turn hire people like the Morning Joe crew). Now we all get a voice. Type something clever enough and it may be national news. Capture something controversial enough and post it on You Tube, and everyone in the world may see it. I think the re-democratization of mass media in this way scares the crap out of Morning Joe and his corporate pay masters.

    Besides all that, he should stop stereotyping all bloggers as cheeto-eating no-nothings. I personally enjoy a wide range of snack products while blogging — to include my most favored Funyons. Better than onions. Because they’re fun!

  6. Greg0658 commented on Sep 1

    BostonJoex#3 – “Capture something controversial enough” :-)

    70% of the tube – its hip to be bad in America these days – controversy peeks interest and it’s stink’g up our world

  7. Yankee commented on Sep 2

    Yes, blogs are bad because it enables people worldwide an activity they were unable to do so quickly: Talk to each other. And those in power know that when people talk to each other they might get ideas about how things really are and they can’t have that!

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