Then there are the bloggers.In return for their free content, we pretty much get what we’ve paid for – something of such limited intellectual value as to be barely discernible from massive ignorance.Andrew Keen in his book The Cult of the Amateur cites Hurricane Katrina as an example when: “reports from people at the scene helped spread unfounded rumours, inflated body counts and erroneous reports of rapes and gang violence in the New Orleans Superdome – all later debunked by mainstream news media”.
Citizen journalists, he says, simply don’t have the resources to bring us reliable news. They lack not only expertise and training but access to decision makers and reliable sources.
The difference, he says, between professionals and amateurs is that bloggers don’t go to jail for their work – they simply aren’t held accountable like real reporters.
This is another extract from News Limited chairman John Hartigan’s speech to the National Press Club on Monday.
Hmm, I guess this is why journalists, myself included, are called for information on stories triggerd by blog posts.
In terms of intellectual value, I wonder if he has picked up the Daily Telegraph recently. I find myself recalling how News Limited newspapers handled the Pauline sex photos story from earlier this year.
Mark, there seems to be a word missing from your second par. It doesn’t make sense.
Thanks. Fixed.
This is basically just scare mongering. Traditional news outlets, like traditional record companies are running scared. They are no longer in control of what people hear, see and read and they don’t like it. They can bad mouth and sue everyone who disagree with them but over time they will have to either change strategy or cease to exist. Many people find it hard to believe in a town like Melbourne with such a strong connection to it’s papers that one day they could go out of business, but if you look into history many mega companies with monopolies on their market have eventually fallen because they couldn’t adapt.
Bloggers were the first to notify the world of MJ death.
Mark…wasn’t one of Hartigan’s major points that they are held accountable for their mistakes such as the Pauline Hanson photos, whereas bloggers are not?
Ted, most journo’s are not held to their mistakes. The low rate Herald Sun in Melbourne frequently writes stories as fact that are little more than gossip and are never held to their frequent mistakes. In fact bloggers are held to their mistakes more than journo’s because most have feedback built into their publishing. Look at the first response to this thread as an example from Gavin.
Picking up a typo is not holding someone accountable. As for the Herald Sun, mistakes like the Pauline Hanson photos would result in a loss of people wishing to part with their hard earned in future. That certainly happened to our shop sales the following Sunday.
Ted, I am as accountable as any publisher. more so even given the interaction here.
In terms of Pauline Hanson, it took them a while to fix the mistake.
There is a real negativity towards blogging, social networking and such forms of online interaction at an upper level in old-media enterprises. They have issues coming to terms with new media that is bi-directional in nature and controlled by the respondent, not the publisher.
That’s right Jarryd, have a look at Iran in the past few weeks. New media is bucking the normal OR Controlable.
If “real reporters” use “reliable sources” why do a lot of them turn to gossip sites/blogs, etc and report it as factual.
Richard Wilkins reported Jeff Goldblum died from falling off a cliff. Even though that same rumour was dispelled on the internet before it was shown.
Link: http://www.abc.net.au/mediawatch/transcripts/s2611645.htm
Seems even some people can’t do a proper job. professional or not.
what the hell is “OR Controlable?”
Instead of salaries, bloggers are paid in trust and reputation – to say bloggers aren’t accountable is laughable. No blogger risks reputation without checking as far as possible. The world is our editor and it’s a pretty mean one if even a single word is missing or out of place. e.g. the comments above. 😛
Jeff Jarvis speaks of blogging as process journalism instead of product journalism. An interesting idea…