Loading ...Brodeur Journalists Survey Identifies Blogs’ Influence on Traditional News Coverage
Blogs help journalists set the tone with story ideas, angles and insights: A survey of U.S. journalists by Brodeur, a unit of Omnicom Group (NYSE: OMC), suggests that blogs are not only having an impact on the speed and availability of news, but also influence the tone and editorial direction of reporting. (Click here for more on the results…)
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Welcome!
I’m Jerry Johnson and on Monday, January 7th I was part of a panel at CES entitled “Taking the Blogosphere Seriously.” This issue really has two parts.
First, why should we take the blogosphere seriously?
And second, what about the blogosphere is worthless, foolish, nonsense — that is, what is being said about the blogosphere that we should NOT take seriously?
I have my own opinion which was enough to get me a seat at a roundtable discussion. But if the blogosphere is, as described in the CES Conference Agenda “one of the most powerful communications vehicles the world has ever seen,” then it struck me as reasonable that I turn to the blogosphere for some direction.
So here’s my question(s) to you.
First, what about the blogosphere is serious? Specifically, what should all these folks attending the world’s biggest consumer show take seriously about the blogosphere? I’ve put my two cents in the tab above appropriately entitled: “SERIOUS.” They are: transparency, engagement, community, buzz, and ?
Second, what about the blogosphere is not serious? That is, what should these consumer electronics types simply discount as fads, fluff, and general cyber-intoxicated-tomfoolery? My candidates are found in the tab entitled: “NOT SERIOUS“. They are: democratization, efficiency, measurement, essential, and ?
Take a look, then take the microphone – keyboard, actually – and rip away. You tell me – what do you think folks need to take seriously about the blogosphere and claims about it … and what is just hype?
Thanks. I look forward to a healthy discussion.
Best,
Jerry
January 2nd, 2008 at 8:36 am
Two great questions.
1) Why should we take the blogosphere seriously? When blogging software was created, and became popular, it provided people with little or no technical capability the opportunity to post content to the web. As a result, millions of people from all over the globe now have a venue - the web - for sharing their opinions, stories, insights, observations, and such. Whether they are doing it for commercial or therapeutic reaons, people of all origins and incomes have a platform from which to speak. The blogosphere is the marketplace of ideas that we have always sought in our society. And, as a result, it is one of the great equalizers in our society. No longer must we rely on the mainstream media for all our information. No longer must we be in the same place as someone to interact with them. The barriers have come down. And since we value people’s individual opinions and their rights of expression (at least in democratic societies) we must respect the blogosphere because it is one of the new platforms from which our dialogue as a society is borne.
2) What should be ignored? First, I think it is important that we look at the quality of the information and experiences in the blogosphere when determining what blogs to follow, not strictly the size of the audience. There are political blogs that boast a massive following but contribute little to the political discourse other than hatred and vitriol. There are blogs that repurpose information from the mainstream media - a useful tool for someone who doesn’t have time to read everything on the planet, but a missed opportunity in terms of accessing the opinions and perspectives of the person doing that aggregating. So, I say ignore the extremes, ignore the high traffic — not entirely, but at least enough to determine whether they are adding additional value in the spirit of the blogosphere. Second, I would ignore the advertising. Advertising is a necessity in the blogosphere, people have to make money. But it doesn’t work the way its done - at least not well enough. The systems for providing advertising to blogs should be blown up and replaced by something better — ads that reflect the quality of the content, the needs and desires of the audience.
The blogosphere has gotten a lot of attention, much of it well deserved. But what we know now should be just the very first draft of the history of what ultimately becomes a vibrant platform for discussion, and commerce, and everything else. In other words, don’t settle for what we have now. Strive to do better. Look for the tools and accessories that we can add to ehance what we have. Look for the lessons from the current community and find ways to spread them to all.
Thanks for asking.
January 2nd, 2008 at 12:58 pm
Brian,
Thanks for the post. Agree that the blogosphere eliminates barriers to entry and many physical barriers. But does the explosion in the sheer volume of blogs turn the axis of power back to “power brokers” like search engines and blog stars?
The village town square was an equalizer in its day. So was the small printing press and pamphleteering. But once cities became the size of a small nation-state, people left the square to read the newspaper (and the only people left in the town square were crack-heads and drunks). Pamphlets morphed into colored sheets with large type slipped under windshield wipers.
Are folks concerned that the same will happen in the blogosphere?
And doesn’t everyone already ignore advertising?
Best,
Jerry
January 3rd, 2008 at 10:06 am
Jerry,
You make some very good points. Let me add my two cents:
1. Promoting democracy. Blogs don’t mean much, in my view, in a country like the U.S., but in other parts of the world: Saudi Arabia, Egypt, China, Burma and Russia, blogging on political issues is be a life-threatening exercise of ‘free’ speech.
2. Transparency. Blogging does seem to help nourish the idea that “information wants to be free,” unless you’re Apple and you want to shut down the leaking of trade secrets to the public.
3. Politics. Howard Dean was the first to get it, and Ron Paul has taken it to a new level. Dean lost and so will Paul. Both were/are leaders who didn’t fit their movements, or they were the voices of movements that really can’t win. As an aside, Fred Thompson was drafted and spurred on by a group of persons who thought he could be the voice of their brand of conservatism. He entered reluctantly, and was bound not to be able to meet their expectation. There’s a lesson here about the web and politics.
4. Shouting Matches. So much of what’s on the blogosphere should be turned off. Way too much venom, hatred, pettiness and fetid displays of ‘you know what.’ Sort of like PapparazziPorno. And now I can get it streamed to my iPhone. Who can I thank for that?
5. Curiosity. Through the blogosphere, I’ve been able to find experts willing to share their views on cosmology, religion, and DNA sciences. I’m not that smart, so it’s really helpful to have scholars able to explain in special English what’s going on in their respective fields.
6. Measurement. I agree that it’s really hard to measure messaging, engagement, and other PR indicators such as share of voice. I’m not even sure what these really mean in the blogorama. A lot of money gets spent monitoring what folks are saying about company products, issues and brands. I’ve always wondered if more people knew that they were being publicly bugged, their writings trolled, and even their conversations monitored, that they would shut up — or at least go anonymous. (Just like I am now!)
7. The Long Tail. Yes, most blogs, including mine, dwell in the Hubble Deep Field of the blogiverse. Once in a while we get noticed, get our five mili-seconds of fame. Yet it’s been a real surprise to what extend our company blog has generated real revenue leads.
8. Smarter Leaders. The country is becoming increasingly one based on the creation, storage, movement and analysis of information (Duh?) We really do need leaders that don’t think of the Internet as a collection of tubes, or as the Internets, or as a Googler. I’ve heard it’s a generational thing. No, we might want to give politicians an IQ test, and set the minimum standard in law. So how low could it go?
9. Okay, I’ll quit now. Bye.
January 3rd, 2008 at 2:23 pm
Thanks, Gary. Agree on almost all fronts but … smarter leaders … hmmm … will blogs do that? I think it conflicts with #4 … shouting matches. But then there’s your point #5 … curiosity. I’ve certainly learned alot from bloggers. But I wonder if that is offset by all the PaparazziPorn I have to see to get it.
Which leads to a seminal question … do blogs make you stupid? or smart?
January 3rd, 2008 at 4:17 pm
There’s an element of your question that is off the rails. Somebody more articulate than I am described the blogosphere as “people talking.”
Which part of people talking do you take seriously and which do you not take seriously? It depends on the people, doesn’t it?
For instance, in the Iowa political blogosphere there are cranks and loons, there’s a state senator, a Democratic party official, some current and former journalists, a law prof, plenty of regular folks — when it comes to understanding what to take seriously there and what to ignore, you have to know the people.
Too many people make the blogosphere a lot more complicated than it is.
January 4th, 2008 at 2:40 am
Dave,
Thanks. In my defense, I came up with the question only because the CES panel title was “Taking the Blogosphere Seriously” which to me was pregnant with assumptions.
That said yur comment — “Too many people make the blogosphere a lot more complicated than it is” — is spot on. You’ve got to know the people. But with all the conversations out there it is hard to dissect the conversations from the shouting matches (which, of course, are their own form of conversation).
January 10th, 2008 at 9:21 am
I enjoyed the session at CES - thanks. Here’s my tuppence worth as to why the blogosphere should be taken seriously by the corporate world: for a whole generation of young people the blogosphere is a way of life, something they take for granted. If a corporation or company disregards this fact, it will not only risk alienating itself from future clients but also will have difficulty attracting new talent.