Former Blog-Basher Patrick Goldstein is Blogging
Posted on June 25, 2008
L.A. Times journalist and entertainment writer Patrick Goldstein now has a blog called The Big Picture. Goldstein once angered the blogosphere with an article called Beware of Blog and Defamer gives him the blog-hater label. Like many journalists Goldstein is now blogging himself - Mediabistro suggests he try it in his underwear.
The LAT hopes to put Goldstein's knowledge and sources to work in a blog that brings responsible journalism to the faster-than-pulp pace of 24/7 online entertainment reporting.Goldstein does read blogs - we hope Patrick Goldstein also likes blogging since he appears to have no choice now but to blog.The Big Picture is one of our favorite columns at the paper, and we're excited to see what it evolves into as a longtime journo wades into the world of full-time blogger. No word yet on whether he'll be reporting in his underwear (we highly recommend it).
It appears he does and that he is motivated to be part of the conversations taking place in the blogosphere. Goldstein has a thoughtful entry about how blogging is changing journalism in his post called, "This blogging life." Goldstein thinks that someday blogs will be the backbone of the L.A. Times newspaper.
That's the idea behind launching the Big Picture blog. As much as I've loved writing a once-a-week column, the world of entertainment and pop culture is moving so fast that it's become impossible to keep up with all the action without weighing in more often than once a week. Over the past few years, I've found myself addicted to reading blogs. The best ones offer a wonderfully brainy, personal and irreverent way of seeing the world. You'll see the paper now has 40-plus blogs, with more being launched all the time.Welcome aboard the blogosphere Mr. Goldstein.My guess is that someday soon our blogs will be the backbone of the paper. Journalists have discovered, to our chagrin, that information is everywhere these days. But readers still crave informed analysis and lively writing, which is something we can focus on as newspapers make the transition from mass circulation entities to niche-oriented publications. So while I've got lots to learn about the blogging life--and will surely stumble many times along the way--I'm eager to be a part of that new conversation.