Washington Post offers "early retirement plan" to 80 newsroom positions. Way to look after that bottom line, Graham family. News can be profitable and good for democracy at the same time, right? More than ever, it's the duty of the bloggers out there to do more reporting and information gathering, and offer less punditry about the news and political establishment.This sentiment achoes what Brad Friedman has said for a while: Be the media.
At the risk of using this Buzzflash advisory as an excuse for -- egads! -- yet more punditry, I'd like to point out the problem here. A large part of news gathering comes down to talking to people on the telephone -- and when you write a blog, people do not hasten to speak with you on the phone or to return your calls.
Trust me on this.
Even the big blogs, the ones with many thousands of readers each day, are viewed with suspicion, because so many citizens have read news stories about crazy and irresponsible bloggers. If you work for a tiny radio station, for a program with only a few hundred listeners, your potential sources will still treat you with some respect. But the situation is "diffo" (as Hatlo used to put it) if you "cold call" someone and try to open up a dialogue with the un-magic words "Hi! I write a blog...."
And let's not even talk about the time factor. When you become entranced by a novel area of research (as has happened to yours truly once or twice), odd things start to happen. You miss deadlines in your "real" job. Significant others begin to feel seriously neglected -- and then they begin to hide their Yahoo chat windows. An unwalked dog may soil the rug. Stuff like that.
So. As the "real media" implodes, how can we, the unpaid punditocracy, truly hope to replace them?
You can replace the big, dumb, corporate media by doing exactly what you are doing: doggedly staying on task. Don't worry about the inevitable gaps you must present to your readers. We all understand and have patience. I think you run one of the most interesting, informative, insightful and honest blogs on the Internet! Remember we are the little mammals scurrying between the feet of the dinos. We will prevail!
ReplyDeletePeace,
Bob Boldt
Could the Washington Post's early retirement for 80 newsroom workers have anything to do with the Washington Post publishing some articles unfavorable to the Bush Administration over the past few months in particular?
ReplyDeletecould this be the Foxization of the Washington Post on a massive scale?
My take on the massive layoffs was not so much to save money but to get rid of any "old school" who still adhere to journalism standards such as providing both sides of the story.
Could there be some Katrina type domestic disasters coming to your town soon later this year that would result in massive population upheavals, chaos and the implementation of martial law?
As we get closer to midterm elections and the Republicans face the dreaded prospect of being voted out of office in droves, I forecast that we won't have any elections, period. This country will be in a lockdown. The louder the Bush impeachment drums beat in the halls of Congress and in City Halls around the country, the closer we get to having some "manufactured disaster" take place on US soil that results in a complete and total lockdown.
I hope I am wrong. In fact I'll celebrate if I am wrong.
I remain a concerned but stressed out anon from SF.
To the Frustrated Significant Others of Overworked Bloggers, Whomever They May Be,
ReplyDeleteWe're sorry; we need your partners' brains and time right now. Not all of both those things, just most of them. I hope that things will clear up within the next couple of years, and the world will see fewer crises and more keyboards to cover them, but the outrage trauma hasn't let up yet and our mainstream media has DESERTED us. Without blogs like Cannonfire, I personally would go mad. You'll get them back eventually. Until then, we hope you can find it in yourselves to understand.
Love,
Jen, Joe's Biggest Fan
Anon from SF, you and I are in complete agreement. The Rep's can't afford to lose control of Congress, but stealing elections again will probably be so obvious, in light of pre-election polls, that even the MSM will notice.
ReplyDeleteA "postponement" of the elections is what I expect.