Aspiring Journalist Wishes Death to the Blogs

Posted on January 25, 2006

Eric Gilmore, Senior Writer at The East Carolinian has an article called "Death to the Blog." Gilmore asks how he can trust blogs and complains that there are too many Duke basketball blogs.

How can I trust blogs when the reporters and authors are faceless? Who ensures that the information was received in an ethical and proper manner? What agency is accountable to ensure that the information published is correct? The answer is simple: not a soul.
And who has time to read 146 blogs about Duke basketball? I barely have enough time in the day to browse the articles on ECU sports. Unless the faculty went on a year-long strike, I would never have time to read 50 journal entries by random fans claiming themselves as so-called experts. Or even for that matter, 50 so-called reporters blogging themselves as experts.

Ok, so 146 is a lot of blogs about Duke basketball and it would probably take too long to read them all but that doesn't mean there aren't a few worth reading especially you are really into Duke basketball. Besides the real point here is that bloggers like Duke Blogger, Living Behind Bars and Running With the Devils enjoy writing about Duke basketball.

I agree that print journalism is on the ropes. I do realize that is who pays my bills (still not enough). Nevertheless, it's a simple mathematical equation. The internet has now scooped radio as the fastest medium for people to consume their information. And radio, because of its inaccessibility and diluted choices can't compete with the internet.
But are blogs truly the answer of the next decade? The media has survived for years without them. Saturating the net with journal entries wasn't exactly what I envisioned when I signed up for this journalism gig. And if this trend continues, I cringe to hear what will come next, even if it is five years too late.

There will always be a place for well-researched content that measures up to journalistic standards. But there will also be a place for blogs and thanks to today's easy-to-use publishing tools people will always be able to give their opinions. Media professionals will have to get used to blogging and other forms of user-created content as part of the media landscape. Many journalists have already embraced blogging as Gilmore mentioned in his article: "Anyway, I noticed that every freaking reporter on the web has a blog." Maybe one day Gilmore will join his colleagues in the blogosphere.