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April 8, 2008

Attack of the Tub-thumping Gadflies

Jon Talton is concerned about technology, the state of journalism, and the role of citizen journalists. And, for the most part, I agree with him except for this:

The notion that hundreds of part-time gadflies, blowhards, tub-thumpers, students and well-meaning good-government types can replace real journalism is silly. Much of the corporate media has embraced this fad for a simple reason: it costs less to have a housewife blog from the city council meeting for free. Whether she has the time, seasoning, and street smarts to uncover what’s really going on and put it in context for readers is highly unlikely.

For the thousandth millionth time-- name one credible person who is making the argument that citizen journalism will/should replace "real journalism"? Can we please please please stop knocking down this silly strawman?

It's important to note that what makes journalism "real" is not a paycheck but a procedure and an associated ethic sometimes referred to as "newspaper journalism."

And can we stop with the insults? How does Talton know what street-smarts a "housewife" does or does not have?

As soon as we can do those two things we can begin dealing with the very real and revolutionary (evolutionary?) changes taking place in journalism.



Posted by acline at April 8, 2008 9:46 AM | | Spotlight