Article

2005-02-16 Home Front: Culture Wars

Archived material is restricted to Rantburg regulars and members. If you need access email fred.pruitt=at=gmail.com with your nick to be added to the members list. There is no charge to join Rantburg as a member.

Posted by Anonymoose 2005-02-16 8:41:29 PM|| || Front Page|| [9 views since 2007-05-07] Top

#1 But what the radio stations didn't have in 1994 was back-up. The MSM can go after the bloggers if they want, but they better have their story perfectly right. The distributed nature of this new format means that there will always be somebody with specialized knowledge who can call BS if they don't, as proven by font-geek Charles Johnson.

Posted by BH 2005-02-16 9:12:55 PM|| 2005-02-16 9:12:55 PM|| Front Page Top

#2 Spot-on, BH. Bring it on, crybabies.

Posted by .com 2005-02-16 9:49:07 PM|| 2005-02-16 9:49:07 PM|| Front Page Top

#3 Agreed. If I were a student at the Columbia School of Journalism, I'd be seriously questioning both my career options and the value I was getting for my tuition.

Posted by Matt 2005-02-16 10:03:16 PM|| 2005-02-16 10:03:16 PM|| Front Page Top

#4 He's right, of course. But the Internet is different. The Internet is a global and it's unstoppable. We are witnessing a true revolution in terms of how news is disseminated. They simply can't compete with the brain power and instantaneous nature of the Internet. Smart investors will dump their stock in the major networks and magazines like Time Magazine, US News, etc. For two long, they've had crappy writers who pedal little more than a point of view. Now these chosen few will compete with the expertise of true experts, and people who write because the love to and who are often far more skilled than the "professionals", despite the lack of credentials.

If the want to succeed, they will provide quality reporting and information. Hiring on the best bloggers, etc. There is a need for accurate reporting - but the ability to control the flow..ie: distribution of that information is already beyond their control.

Good writers, will survive through paying blogs and whatever form the future "newspaper" will take. But it won't be like the New York Times, or Time Magazine, or USA Today, formats who try to be all things to all people. Those days have passed.

Rantburg is probably a good indication of things to come.

Posted by 2b 2005-02-16 10:10:28 PM|| 2005-02-16 10:10:28 PM|| Front Page Top

#5 Excellent points, 2b. Currently, the RB Editors who monitor, add in-line commentary, keep the peace... Someday, they'll beep their list of topical columnists - to see how many want to work on a breaking event - the added value analysis and perspective - beyond the facts which are posted as they come out in the central thread. And that hard data may be free - or bid for, in lex's News eBay, if you're trying to lead the story - i.e. be the source of a scoop, as they used to say. These columnists have access to databases of interlinked / pre-searched topical info - previous articles, facts, who's, when's, what's, why's, how's. Kinda like what Dan, Paul, et al, do now, heh. They make the connections for us, flesh them out, create sidebars, the whole nine yards. Of course, the Editors take everything generated, all the connectivity discovered, and update the DB's...

Something like that.

Posted by .com 2005-02-16 10:28:02 PM|| 2005-02-16 10:28:02 PM|| Front Page Top

#6 Perhaps the shape of things to come was the recent sale of crikey.com.au to a mainstream media company reputably for a $1M. Forward looking established media coopt (buy into?) the best blogs and create a hybrid.

Posted by phil_b 2005-02-16 11:39:19 PM|| 2005-02-16 11:39:19 PM|| Front Page Top

#7 Murdock's top mgmt is meeting tomorrow, I think (decided not to post the article since it was only one paragraph with nothing more than the announcement), to determine the shape of Fox and the rest of Murdoch's empire, print - TV - radio, in light of the Internet, blogs, etc.

They might have been the purchasers, lol!

Should be a very interesting next few years. Much writing on the wall, heh.

Posted by .com 2005-02-16 11:43:36 PM|| 2005-02-16 11:43:36 PM|| Front Page Top

14:02 Crerert Ebbeting3481
09:14 1233JEFF
08:49 1233JEFF
08:38 1233JEFF
23:59 Bomb-a-rama
23:54 phil_b
23:46 gromky
23:43 .com
23:39 phil_b
23:38 .com
23:37 Frank G
23:35 Frank G
23:30 Frank G
23:25 .com
23:24 Frank G
23:18 phil_b
23:13 Chase Unineger3873 aka Jarhead
23:02 Robert Crawford
23:01 Chase Unineger3873 aka Jarhead
22:59 Chase Unineger3873 aka Jarhead
22:54 .com
22:43 Desert Blondie
22:41 Chase Unineger3873 aka Jarhead
22:40 IToldYouSo