Shane Hegarty, the blogger at the Irish Times blog Present Tense has some interesting thoughts on the topic of blogging and the mainstream:
I don’t pretend that this blog would have the kind of traffic it does if it weren’t on Ireland.com. But authority still has to be earned.
It’s why successful blogs deserve a great deal of credit. Most have had to earn that traffic and authority through their own hard work. They’ve had to do it in a crowded market, and without being able to hide behind good editors and sub-editors (I know this because I would long ago have sunk without them). It doesn’t mean that all blogs – even successful ones – are good, nor that there isn’t a debate to be had about their value, attitude, what attracts attention and what doesn’t. But newspaper opinion writers have an entire structure on which to lean, and despite that some are very bad indeed.
Yes, blogs are unfiltered, but what value is a filtering system when it is aimed only at bringing in opinion writers who agree with the editorial line of a newspaper? Ultimately a blogger’s opinion is as legitimate as any opinion writer’s.
At last, a sign that someone is listening and talking back intelligently!
In other news. Damien has a story about bloggers going unattributed. And on the day when Peter Hain resigns, Guido lays his claim to the scoop, whilst the Guardian quietly removes its earlier claim dated back to the 8th January. This is one occasion were Guido wins. According to Iain Dale he’s on Newsnight tonight. With the lights on this time, if he’s any sense!
Mick is founding editor of Slugger. He has written papers on the impacts of the Internet on politics and the wider media and is a regular guest and speaking events across Ireland, the UK and Europe. Twitter: @MickFealty
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