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Su Feb 20 -

"Does Blogging Matter?"

I happened to catch a segment on CNN TV Friday afternoon during which there was some informal discussion about blogging and I want to comment on a few points. The transcript for this segment comes to us courtesy of Jeff Jarvis who also posted an entry about the segment. You'll find the relevant links below my comments.

# First, I was perturbed that Anne Marie Cox, the writer of Wonkette, was being portrayed as a blogger when, in fact, she is a paid online columnist just as Howard Kurtz is a paid columnist. I think this is a sinister turn of events that does not bode well for bloggers. What's the difference?

Bloggers are self-selected. Paid columnists are hired and paid by someone else. Let's not be cute about this. Yes, I think it matters greatly.

# Second, are bloggers just a "Media Lynch Mob?" No. Even when I disagree with someone, I don't think I'm trying to lynch them. I would say that the blogging community is more like an office Water Cooler. The rest of the "bicker" about whether bloggers should be regulated, controlled, or be held accountable for their opinions is as silly as advocating the "control" of a bunch of people chatting around an office water cooler.

# Third, Eason Jordan was mentioned in passing; his separation from his position as the head of CNN News or TV was attributed, at least in part, to bloggers. This is untrue.

Jordan's remark which allegedly claimed that journalists are being "targeted" by the military may have been spotlighted by some bloggers who found the claim objectionable, but that was not the critical problem with his reputed remark. The crux of the problem is that he seemed to be parroting a well-known partyline associated with Al-Jazeera TV which is supposed to be a rival and competitor of CNN. That can easily raise a question in viewers' minds: who is Jordan really working for-- CNN TV or Al-Jazeera TV? And that can translate into a more tangible problem with eyeballs and TV ratings. Plus, Al-Jazeera has been in the doghouse with the Iraqi authorities, so that echoing them could risk putting CNN in there with them.

-- Transcript of Judy Woodruff's:
:: INSIDE POLITICS ::

-- Entry from BuzzMachine --
:: PERMALINK ::

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