MSM Can Do Blogs
Bob Cauthorn finally writes in Rebuilding Media and his post is more like an essay than a blog entry. He writes that newspapers and other mainstream media can’t blog because they don’t get how to be opinionated, and are generally made up of mediocre people.
Sure, there’s a point: Some blogging is goofy when done by the MSM. But there are legit MSM uses for blogging. A weekly like Business Week for example, has Tech Beat, in which a reporter who gathers and monitors all week can unload bits he’s finding to us. And I like how BW’s Blogspotting surveys corporate and other industry-related blogs. For even more of a niche, I sometimes check out ZDNet’s blogs on what’s going on in parts of the tech industries. ABCNews’ “The Note” has been written about plenty as a must-read inside the Beltway.
One gets the sense that these were created to fill specific needs of an audience, to fill a “niche.”. They are part of the conversation, and finding things for all of us. They have ads (on BW, big interruptive ones) and so add to the bottom line. What’s wrong with all that?