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March 11, 2008

Big Numbers for Political Blogs?

Reuters reports--under the headline "Most Americans Don't Read Political Blogs"--that 22 percent do read political blogs. Hmmmmmm. I gotta tell ya--22 percent sounds huge to me.

Why not this story: "Most Americans Don't Read Newspapers"

Is 22 percent big or small? And what would an answer even mean to politics, policy, or public discussion of same? I have no idea. But I certainly wouldn't spin this as Reuters has. It suggests they understand something about the Harris Interactive data that they do not truly understand.

What Reuters has here is the beginnings of a potentially interesting story about who reads political blogs, in what numbers, and how such interest actually affects politics and the coverage of politics.

The proper way to have reported this poll: straight. Just give us the numbers. Suggesting they mean something, with no more information that is available, is nothing short of creating journalistic fiction.

Further, the article states:

Unlike traditional, mainstream media, blogs often adopt a specific point of view. Critics complain they can contain unchecked facts, are poorly edited and use unreliable sources.

And Dave Neiwert correctly responds: "And this distinguishes them from the mainstream press exactly... how?"

The journalism establishment has an inflated sense of its own ability to report and verify the facts. And, in terms of sources, journalism has a status quo bias. I'll start believing that professional journalism is consistently capable of markedly more accurate, verified, and well-sourced work when The New York Times is able to avoid any more Jayson Blairs, Judy Millers, and unverified second-hand sex.

None of my criticism here, or anywhere on Rhetorica, should be interpreted to mean that I think blogging is better than professional journalism. First, we'd have to discuss what the heck we're even comparing. The two are different. Both represent citizens (some for pay, some not) exercising their First Amendment rights.



Posted by acline at March 11, 2008 9:23 AM | | Spotlight