"Re-engage the audience... citizen journalism... instigate a dialogue..." the rats are deserting the good ship HMS Newspaper, leaving a trail of platitudes in their wake. But have people abandoned newspapers because they want to be a part of a Brave New Blogging World where news is unsubstantiated, poorly written and footnoted by pages of pointless arguments? Or is it because they just don't want to read newspapers any more? In short, are Blogs just the latest buzzword siezed upon by media execs trying to mitigate plummeting circulation?
We are told that the Blogosphere is expanding at the rate of 23,000 blogs a day. Well OK, but how many of those actually survive past day three when you've expounded all your theories on Bush's foreign policy and you have to start Blogging about what you had for tea? We are told that Blogging is a vital tool for engaging the public: after all, even Conservative Leader David Cameron Blogs. Yeah, but if he jumped off a cliff while clutching a family of deprived African children, would you do it too? In fact, since when has emulating any of the behaviour of a Tory Leader been a good idea?
So what if the Blogging Revolution turned out to be a false dawn, fuelled by a hardcore group of attention-seeking enthusiasts posting commenting all over each others' Blogs but generally ignored by right-thinking society? I mean, do you know anyone who actually Blogs regularly? I do, but I'm on a top Broadcast Training course full of news junkies. It might just be that the rest of the Blogosphere is written by angst-ridden young Goths and computer nerds.
So, you might ask: if I'm so cynical about Blogs why have I just signed up for one? Why don't I just sod off back to my humdrum offline existence and leave you Level 3 Warlocks to it? It's because I don't neccesarily believe all the opinions I express. In the hyperbolic world of online journalism, neither should you.
We are told that the Blogosphere is expanding at the rate of 23,000 blogs a day. Well OK, but how many of those actually survive past day three when you've expounded all your theories on Bush's foreign policy and you have to start Blogging about what you had for tea? We are told that Blogging is a vital tool for engaging the public: after all, even Conservative Leader David Cameron Blogs. Yeah, but if he jumped off a cliff while clutching a family of deprived African children, would you do it too? In fact, since when has emulating any of the behaviour of a Tory Leader been a good idea?
So what if the Blogging Revolution turned out to be a false dawn, fuelled by a hardcore group of attention-seeking enthusiasts posting commenting all over each others' Blogs but generally ignored by right-thinking society? I mean, do you know anyone who actually Blogs regularly? I do, but I'm on a top Broadcast Training course full of news junkies. It might just be that the rest of the Blogosphere is written by angst-ridden young Goths and computer nerds.
So, you might ask: if I'm so cynical about Blogs why have I just signed up for one? Why don't I just sod off back to my humdrum offline existence and leave you Level 3 Warlocks to it? It's because I don't neccesarily believe all the opinions I express. In the hyperbolic world of online journalism, neither should you.
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