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February 19, 2006
Yabbering versus journalism
The New York Times looks at the steady blurring of the boundaries between online mass media sites, and news-related blogs, noting [who can blame them] that the mass media sites attract far bigger [and faster growing] audiences, probably because most people prefer journalism to "armchair yammering", both of which, it acknowledges, appear in mainstream media too. [How else, let's face it, would you describe Andrew Bolt's predictably biased ranting? It's certainly NOT journalism. In fact we doubt Bolt is capable of fair-minded presentation of facts.]
There's a bonus in the story. There's a link to the first free download of a book by a major publisher, supported by advertising. "HarperCollins is selling the book, Go It Alone! The Secret to Building a Successful Business on Your Own by Bruce Judson, through Mr. Judson's site, brucejudson.com. An alert poster at MetaFilter.com noted that the publisher's page for the book did not mention the free version. Despite the cheesy title, Mr. Judson, a fellow at the Yale School of Management, won accolades from Library Journal and others for his book."
Oh, and there's news that Sony BMG is recruiting interns to plug its artists in online communities.
Posted by cw at February 19, 2006 11:06 AM
Comments
Another interesting development that endangers the mainstream media is the rise of news aggregators like News Bump which is more interesting than many big media outlets.
Posted by: MonsterMan at February 19, 2006 12:14 PM
The going rate for forum posters is somewhere between 10 and 20 cents a post - I wonder if Sony is really looking for interns or just well-trained monkeys?
Posted by: Stuart at February 19, 2006 08:27 PM
If trends like Reporters without Boarders, become more popular I wonder whether the best journalists will end up onn the web. I can't say much about established media communities but the web suddenly has a lot more to offer.
It takes me back to the time when the media were cynical of the the impact of the internet, believing it was/is mostly full of rubbish. Perhaps there will be a Tipping Point.
Posted by: Andy Gavin at February 26, 2006 01:22 AM