Comments on: Dear Hugh Martin, why didn’t you call?

By: acidlabs » Jay Rosen explains it

acidlabs » Jay Rosen explains it — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 07:31:34 +0000

[…] Thanks for visiting!While this video is particularly apropos to the discussion that’s been conducted at least in part here the past couple of weeks, it’s relevance extends to online communities […]

By: Stephen Collins

Stephen Collins — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 04:09:26 +0000

@Scott, I couldn’t agree more. My position has always been that professional journalism, blogging and everything in between (assuming they are opposite ends of some bogus spectrum) all has validity.

That said, this stuff doesn’t sit in a nice, neat spectrum. Some blogging is awesome, well-researched, in-depth and equally, some journalism is execrable pap. They are both a part of a confusingly fuzzy cloud where any verifiable source has equal validity with any other.

I certainly object to being labeled without the labeler contacting me to verify the assumptions they’ve made. But I’m not going to get overheated about it.

I think there are personalities in the journalism and blogger camps who would seek to maintain the status quo; where we are at each other’s throats and the false dichotomy persists. Not me, though.

By: MarketingMag

MarketingMag — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 03:59:29 +0000

I am not opposed to the idea of binary opposites per se, only when they don’t really serve to advance more interesting debate, and actually retard said debate.

Instead of talking about whether ‘journos’ are better than ‘bloggers’, we should really be concentrating on how reporting on the world around us is developing and evolving.

By my reckoning, I now have access to far more sources, from multiple different perspectives, and with the right critical skills I’d like to think I can assess the information on display and make my own mind up.

Surely the extent to which reporting allows us to decide where we stand on key issues in our lives and the lives of others around the world should be the only genuine criteria we should be assessing.

Seriously, where are we anyway? The playground? Some of us went to uni and some didn’t, but either way I like to hear from people capable of using rigorous critical skills to present information and opinion in a transparent manner.

Any rhetorical argument seeking to shut down reason and elicit an emotional response is always going to work for a significant proportion of the world’s population. That doesn’t mean, however, that we should simply strive for an argument that is popular.

Good writing/journalism/thinking is not the exlcusive preserve of anyone. Each instance should be treated on its own merit.

By: acidlabs » Non, je ne regrette rien

acidlabs » Non, je ne regrette rien — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 03:27:46 +0000

[…] Despite speaking no French whatsoever myself (je suis un barbare), I think Stil and I come off rather well (thanks to Google Translate). So, no regrets at all that Hugh Martin considers me a lazy, uninformed generaliser… […]

By: Ben

Ben — Sun, 20 Jul 2008 13:54:36 +0000

I don’t know the rules around acronyms, and as you know Stephen, my English ain’t as good as yours - how does Mainstream Media contract to MSM?

(…and I find the irony of Hugh using blogger to diss bloggers fantastic!)

By: Alex Gibson

Alex Gibson — Sun, 20 Jul 2008 12:00:12 +0000

It is self evident why many professional journalists complain about social media. Instead of researching social media and forming a balanced view on the issue, they argue a position that they feel is going to suit their commercial arrangements the most. It is yet another example of the corruption of the professional journalist who follows their wallet rather than their nose.

By: Stilgherrian

Stilgherrian — Sun, 20 Jul 2008 10:47:16 +0000

I’m not actually a journalist (despite what my conference name tag said) but, yes, certainly an experienced broadcaster with 7 years at ABC Radio and 13 years in total. It was there that I was told in no uncertain terms by certain people in the newsroom that I was not a journo.

As an aside, here’s a yarn about one mainstream media professional, possibly even a capital-J journalist, doing what in my opinion is crap blogging. And unethical to boot.