Chris Anderson, "Free," and disappearing bloggers

by wcooley on Oct 14, 2009 1:01 PM EDT Comment 68 comments

With CMath's departure (like the Geek and Ubelmann before him) I'd like to see a discussion of Chris Anderson's "Free" model for digital information. For those out of the loop, Anderson argues “In the digital realm you can try to keep Free at bay with laws and locks, but eventually the force of economic gravity will win.” In essence, news outlets should give their information away for nothing, much like this site, and hope to make money in other ways.

(more after jump)

Here is how he sees the future of journalism:

"There may be more of them, not fewer, as the ability to participate in journalism extends beyond the credentialed halls of traditional media. But they may be paid far less, and for many it won’t be a full time job at all. Journalism as a profession will share the stage with journalism as an avocation. Meanwhile, others may use their skills to teach and organize amateurs to do a better job covering their own communities, becoming more editor/coach than writer."

Since people like CMath, Geek, and Ubelmann have had to return to their "real jobs," while professional journalists are getting laid off left and right, does this show the limits of "Free"? If we expect solid coverage of the Twins from LaVelle, Joe C, Howard and Reusse, shouldn't we pay for it? Likewise, I learn from Jesse, Roger, Cmath, and others on this site. They put in a lot of work. Shouldn't they be rewarded? If so, how much should we pay?

I love buzzing around the internet, checking out all of the information provided from sites ranging from the New York Times to the Nation to the National Review. But how can we expect these outlets to continue to provide content if they just give it away? I feel like I'm losing out when Cmath and Ubelmann have to get back to their wage-paying occupations; and I also resent when the New York Times closes a foreign bureau because they can no longer afford it. Ultimately, it seems that not paying for content, and leaving journalism to unreliable amateurs, will leave us in the dark. Does Anderson really think that Startribune.com should hire people with a little time on their hands to do the news for a stretch? Should journalism be a "volunteer" job?

Poll

Should we pay for Twinkie Town to ensure top-flight content? (This is purely hypothetical - Jesse has not put me up to this)

Yes

8 votes

No

22 votes

Are you insane?

11 votes

The only thing I pay for is sex

9 votes

50 votes | Poll has closed

3 recs | Comment 68 comments

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Comments

It's true, I didn't put you up to this.

I voted “no”, because the whole idea of this site is to engage others in conversation. If we ever started to charge folks to view content, they’d just go somewhere else (WGOM is a great site, and it’s free) and we’d lose viewers. Viewership and the sense of community we get here is more important to me than trying to get a decent wage.

I’ve been doing this for free for years. I don’t need to be paid a full-time wage to ensure a quality site. If it ever comes to getting paid a full-time wage, I would want it to be through advertising and page views…which is how I get my (very small) stipend as it is.

In the foreseeable future, this site will run its content for free, and I’m hoping we can keep up strong content in spite of Cmath’s departure.

Great post though. I’m not going to FP it, simply because then it might look like I did put you up to it. But I will rec it.

by Jesse on Oct 14, 2009 2:22 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Ultimately no

and here’s why: Jesse and other bloggers do a very good job and provide a good format and good content. But there are many smart people who love and write about sports. There simply is too much supply to charge for it. Even the professional scribes…I don’t want anyone to lose their jobs, but how much are the canned quotes they get by virtue of their press pass really worth to me?

by Eric in Madison on Oct 14, 2009 2:23 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Quality vs. Quantity

There are a lot of people writing about sports on the web, but how much of it is worth reading? At some point readers may have to sort the wheat (pay) from the chaff (browse).

And while I’ve also complained about mainstream journalists merely repeating empty platitudes from players and coaches, I think they have stepped up their game (cliche alert) because of competitioon from sites like this. And I do value their access, if it is used in a constructive, critical fashion.

Besides, the larger issue is access from the “A” section of the newspaper. I want reporters on the ground in Afghanistan, not some guy in Woodbury with internet access.

by wcooley on Oct 14, 2009 4:22 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

But that's my point

A lot of it is worth reading. Seth’s worth reading. Aaron’s worth reading. The WGOM is worth reading. Nick’s worth reading. Lots of people here are worth reading. And that’s just a taste of just the Twins stuff. And if all of those folks decided to charge, others, just as smart and interesting, would come to the fore with free content. It’s a supply/demand issue. Plenty of supply.

Of course you’re right about having reporters places we need them. I still like buying the newspaper.

by Eric in Madison on Oct 14, 2009 7:58 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I think the competition is getting tougher

With the Stib blogs, the Seth/Geek/Nick collaboration at Twins Centric, and their related print publishing ventures, having a valuable voice in the free space is getting tougher. I don’t see this trend changing any time soon. And I don’t see a lot of commercial benefits to blogging on baseball, unless it’s a gateway to another job, like Aaron has done.

Bloggers write for the love of the subject matter about which they are experts. Any commercial benefit is gravy.

"You're thinking too much. Just have fun." -- Bennie "The Jet" Rodriguez in Sandlot

by cmathewson on Oct 15, 2009 10:43 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Gravy

Cmath,
I think you are lucky to have a job that gave you a certain amount of time and freedom to blog. Most people will not have that luxury. Even you have been forced to dedicate more time to your “real” job.

Imho, journalism should be a “profession,” not a hobby. And this issue is bigger than sports. Without journalists, for instance, the American Revolution would not have happened. It was printers who raised a ruckus over the Stamp Act and censorship and connected it to other British crimes against freedom.

by wcooley on Oct 15, 2009 3:08 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Calling Revolutionary Era Pamphleteers

“reporters” is simply not accurate. Was Ben Franklin a “reporter”?

No, there were tens of thousands of smart, independent minded people in the Colonies and they had a new medium, analogous to the Internet in some ways, the moveable type press, and who wanted to promote their version of the story to others. They could quickly produce copy and get it out on the streets.

And they didn’t get paid in any case. They were hoping to sway events in such a way that their financial situations were improved, mainly by throwing off the British overlords. Many of these “sheets” were underwritten by wealthy merchants who had a stake in political change.

by Old Twins Cap on Oct 15, 2009 4:28 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Yes

I think Ben Franklin was a “reporter.” He was called a “printer” in his day, a job for which he apprenticed for from an early age (an awful experience, if I recall correctly, he was beaten regularly by his boss, maybe his older brother?)

Not all pamphleteers were simply tools for the wealthy. Tom Paine, for instance, was a complete failure before Common Sense. And his vision for America was much more democratic than the Republic of propertied white males it became.

by wcooley on Oct 15, 2009 7:54 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Well, I don't agree

My job is to learn as much as I can about Web publishing so I can help my company do a better job in Web publishing. Blogging is part of my learning, as is microblogging, Facebook and LinkedINn, etc.

Now I just need to apply what I learned here to blogs that benefit my company more directly, and help others do the same. You’re right, though. I’m fortunate to have a job like that—as fortunate as someone with 18 years of journalism experience can be.

I used to have more respect for the journalism profession, or the fifth estate. But I’ve watched it erode into a sespool infested with commercial interests and the psychology of mind manipulation. As the mainstream media was covering Michael Jackson and nothing but Michael Jackson, bloggers were reporting on the war in Afganistan and Iraq, the Healthcare crisis, and the economy. Why does the mainstream press focus on stupid celebrity chit chat? Because advertisers like editorial that is neutral and appeals to people who don’t like to think about stuff and deliberate about whether to buy products.

Believe me, I read the studies. There is a much better mix of reporting in the blogosphere than the mainstream media precisely because there is no commercial pressure. The newspapers cry poor mouth when they have nobody to blame but themselves. If they stuck to the holy divide between advertising and editorial, they would not lose readership and they would not lose advertisers. But they dug their own graves by failing to report like the newspapers of my youth, when publishers were not be so concerned about ad/edit ratios and writing copy that pleased the advertisers.

The blogosphere is winning because the reporting is better. The minute a news agency decides to invest appropriately in editorial, they will start beating the bloggers again. What we see is the opposite, newsrooms slashed to the bone and the best writers out on the streets.

"You're thinking too much. Just have fun." -- Bennie "The Jet" Rodriguez in Sandlot

by cmathewson on Oct 15, 2009 4:34 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Golden Age of newspaper

I’m not sure how old you are, but I’m not sure that a “golden age” for newspapers existed. For instance, many papers are called the “Democrat” or “Republican” because they were explicitly partisan. And I’ve read old issues of the Chicago Tribune where it was clear that their Republican leanings drifted from editorials to the news pages. It was not a trustworthy paper until the 1970s.

Plus, it seemed the mainstream print media was much more restrained in their coverage of Pedophile Jackson than television.

But other than that, I agree. Shareholder pressure hurt journalism badly. All stockholders cared about was maintaining their 20% returns, quality journalism be damned.

by wcooley on Oct 15, 2009 8:01 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Does sports require "journalism"?

I agree with you that the potential decline of journalism is troubling, particularly investigative journalism as it relates to political and corporate misbehavior. I’m not sold that that applies to sportswriting – I just don’t think that there is much to gain from the extra access afforded to “real journalists”.

Sure, I check SI.com and ESPN.com for news, but virtually all the news-type stuff (transactions, for example) is already released by teams through their own outlets. For analysis and commentary, I read Bonnes, Gleeman, TwinkieTown, Rob Neyer, Bill Simmons, FootballOutsiders – none of them go to games toting press credentials. Sure, we occasionally get an illuminating quote from Gardy revealing his thought process, and behind-the-scenes NFL stuff from Peter King is often interesting, but with the prevalence of sports on television, analyzing the action on the field does not require sitting in a folding chair in a special box in the stadium and interviewing sweaty people after a game. There’s very little use for investigative journalism – even stuff like the breaking of Favre’s move to Minnesota was ultimately not tremendously important, as it would’ve been eventually released by the team anyway – so you’re left with game stories and regurgitated quotes.

I’m worried about the death of hard journalism as newspapers die off – I don’t trust that websites and TV news (particularly at the local level) have the resources or journalistic chops to fill the void. However, I think sports “journalism”, particularly in the realm of statistical analysis, is in the midst of an internet-fueled golden age.

"There are only two things that are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former." - Albert Einstein

by BeefMaster on Oct 15, 2009 4:54 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Yeah sports writing is not really journalism, but it is improving

In both papers and online. But again, if it were not for bloggers and their new fangled statistics, the papers would still be publishing stuff like Sid’s column, boring game recaps and box scores.

"You're thinking too much. Just have fun." -- Bennie "The Jet" Rodriguez in Sandlot

by cmathewson on Oct 15, 2009 5:39 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Good question

I think access still can be important in sports journalism, but I could be wrong. For one thing, too much access led to a “buddy system,” where reporters were keeping more from the public than they were publishing. How many reporters failed to report that Mantle went 0-5 because they were boozing with him the night before?

by wcooley on Oct 15, 2009 8:03 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Neyer

And don’t you have to pay for Neyer?

by wcooley on Oct 15, 2009 8:18 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I don't pay for Neyer

He’s no better than the dozen bloggers who say the same thing. Dave Cameron, for example.

"You're thinking too much. Just have fun." -- Bennie "The Jet" Rodriguez in Sandlot

by cmathewson on Oct 15, 2009 11:37 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Nope

Neyer’s been outside the “insider” paywall for the past year (at least, that’s when I rediscovered him after randomly noticing no “in” next to his name; I was a fan before he became insider-only). I paid for his Big Book of Baseball Lineups, I guess, but that’s outside his regular gig at ESPN.com.

I’m not averse the idea of paying for content, but at the moment, with the wealth of choices offered by the internet, I don’t know that I’d have to even if a few of my favorites moved to pay-only.

"There are only two things that are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former." - Albert Einstein

by BeefMaster on Oct 16, 2009 10:16 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

hmm...

I just tried to read his article on the Punto and Gomez circus on the basepaths and it said I need to be an “insider.”

by wcooley on Oct 16, 2009 11:02 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

His normal blog "the sweet spot" is free

I’m not sure if certain articles are published separately from the blog, and are only for insiders.

by lookatthosetwins on Oct 21, 2009 12:25 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Supply

I think a lot of those blogs will be short-lived. Sooner or later, people will have to pay the bills, marry, have kids and their blogs will be the first to go. For instance, Gleeman’s Twins content has declined considerably in quality and quantity since he took a “real” job, and I can’t blame him for that. He has also changed his tune on “Free” now that he sees life on the other side, top-notch journalists like Phil Miller are being let go, and his friend Doogie was dropped by KFAN.

There will probably be new blood to rise up and replace them, but is that the future of sports journalism? 20-somethings who do it in their spare time for 2-3 years? I’d prefer to pay for quality and experience.

by wcooley on Oct 15, 2009 2:56 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

But the truth is that things are going in the opposite direction

20 years ago, if you wanted to read sports content, you had to pay for the paper or a magazine.

Now, there has never been more free content. And it keeps going and going and going. And it’s arguably forced the paid journalists to get better at what they do.

by Eric in Madison on Oct 15, 2009 3:34 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

True, I think it is trending away from paid content

But I’m not sure that’s making paid journalists get better at what they do. Look at, just for example, all of the cheerleading Jeter for MVP articles. While there is some quality sports journalism, that I agree is worth paying money for, there is also at least as much journalism that does not rise above what you can find online for free.

And don’t even get me started on the quality of political “news” journalism recently…

by what_would_gil_thorp_do on Oct 15, 2009 4:15 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Locally?

Don’t you think the Star Trib writers (Joe C, LaVelle, Howard, and Reusse) have stepped up their game?

by wcooley on Oct 15, 2009 8:17 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Local coverage has been better.

The Strib writers have been great (except Souhan)

by what_would_gil_thorp_do on Oct 16, 2009 1:06 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

hahaha

did Souhan like, run over your dog or something? Brutal.

But truth. :\

"Baseball doesn't owe me a thing. I owe my whole life to baseball." -Kirby Puckett

by fischean on Oct 16, 2009 1:15 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Souhan is the LNP of the Star Trib

by what_would_gil_thorp_do on Oct 16, 2009 11:28 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

ughh, Punto is still with the Twins

and I made a deal that I would defend him until he wasn’t. Why do you do this to me?!

Punto is nowhere near as bad as Souhan. In fact, Punto is a good ballplayer. Better than people think.

…I’m crying a little on the inside.

"Baseball doesn't owe me a thing. I owe my whole life to baseball." -Kirby Puckett

by fischean on Oct 16, 2009 11:40 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I gotta admire your integrity though

He could potentially retire as a Twin years from now.

"Don't take life for granted, because tomorrow isn't promised to any one of us." -Kirby Puckett  
—Hasta la victoria siempre ¡Patria o Muerte! –Ernesto "Che" Guevara

by less cowbell, more 'neau on Oct 16, 2009 3:32 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

...

That was probably your least helpful/most depressing comment ever.

"Baseball doesn't owe me a thing. I owe my whole life to baseball." -Kirby Puckett

by fischean on Oct 16, 2009 3:59 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Oop! :/

Sorry ~~Faust~~ fischean, unintentional “piling on” there. For your sake I hope he doesn’t take a coaching job with the Twins.

"Don't take life for granted, because tomorrow isn't promised to any one of us." -Kirby Puckett  
—Hasta la victoria siempre ¡Patria o Muerte! –Ernesto "Che" Guevara

by less cowbell, more 'neau on Oct 16, 2009 9:05 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

hahaha

wow…a whole new horrible world of possibilities there. You just keep being so helpful!

"Baseball doesn't owe me a thing. I owe my whole life to baseball." -Kirby Puckett

by fischean on Oct 17, 2009 6:10 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Question is

will Fischean be there when they retire his number?

by caluofmn on Oct 16, 2009 6:25 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

celebrating and dancing in the streets, yes.

"Baseball doesn't owe me a thing. I owe my whole life to baseball." -Kirby Puckett

by fischean on Oct 17, 2009 6:11 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

It took some major guts for your deal

I’ve still got to hold up my deal to not make fun of Keppel during the offseason. I think I’ll count the offseason as not starting until the World Series is over.

by what_would_gil_thorp_do on Oct 16, 2009 10:16 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

that's a good plan.

Better get in all your “Akeppelypse NOW!”s in soon. Or just mention how terrible (aside from 163…where did that come from?!) he was. Fair game.

"Baseball doesn't owe me a thing. I owe my whole life to baseball." -Kirby Puckett

by fischean on Oct 17, 2009 6:12 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

grammar fail

Better get all your “Akeppelypse NOW!”s in soon. **

"Baseball doesn't owe me a thing. I owe my whole life to baseball." -Kirby Puckett

by fischean on Oct 17, 2009 6:13 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Speaking of grammar fail/Akeppelypse NOW!

Someone on BYB was obviously checking in on TT but didn’t quite get it right. He posted

THE KEPPELOCALYPSE

a couple of times during game 163, but it just didn’t catch on for some reason.

"Don't take life for granted, because tomorrow isn't promised to any one of us." -Kirby Puckett  
—Hasta la victoria siempre ¡Patria o Muerte! –Ernesto "Che" Guevara

by less cowbell, more 'neau on Oct 17, 2009 7:42 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

hahaha

erm…well, good effort.

Wait, let me clarify. Good effort.

"Baseball doesn't owe me a thing. I owe my whole life to baseball." -Kirby Puckett

by fischean on Oct 17, 2009 7:45 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Instead of Akeppelypse NOW

that was Akeppelypse FAIL

by what_would_gil_thorp_do on Oct 18, 2009 12:06 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

paywall

I could see the Startrib going to a paywall for Twins coverage next year much as they’ve done with the Vikings. To be honest, I didn’t know that most Vikes fans could read.

by wcooley on Oct 16, 2009 10:54 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

burned, haha

by what_would_gil_thorp_do on Oct 16, 2009 11:26 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Nothing is preventing you from paying now.

I’m sure everyone you admire and would like to support would be glad to take your money.

by Old Twins Cap on Oct 15, 2009 4:29 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I do pay

for NPR and Radio K. Maybe that will be the model of the future.

But that presents the “free rider” problem. How many people would pony up voluntarily to ensure that the Star Tribune can fund a beat writer?

by wcooley on Oct 15, 2009 8:05 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I do like the NPR model

Wikipedia uses it, with some success.

"You're thinking too much. Just have fun." -- Bennie "The Jet" Rodriguez in Sandlot

by cmathewson on Oct 15, 2009 11:38 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Also it poses the problem of really annoying member drives

by lookatthosetwins on Oct 21, 2009 12:28 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Im guessing

Montana and I are the two who chose the 4th option

http://twinkietalk.com
http://thecollegehockeyblog.com

by fetch9 on Oct 14, 2009 2:45 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Do they charge for sheep?

"You're thinking too much. Just have fun." -- Bennie "The Jet" Rodriguez in Sandlot

by cmathewson on Oct 14, 2009 2:55 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I think he just gets them out of the barn.

"Baseball doesn't owe me a thing. I owe my whole life to baseball." -Kirby Puckett

by fischean on Oct 14, 2009 2:55 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

barn = brothel?

by caluofmn on Oct 14, 2009 3:00 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Plus they pay for themselves in wool.

"Don't take life for granted, because tomorrow isn't promised to any one of us." -Kirby Puckett  
—Hasta la victoria siempre ¡Patria o Muerte! –Ernesto "Che" Guevara

by less cowbell, more 'neau on Oct 14, 2009 3:00 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

exactly

you get a wife and a new coat.

http://twinkietalk.com
http://thecollegehockeyblog.com

by fetch9 on Oct 14, 2009 3:02 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I blame myself

for lowering the tenor of discussion with the forth option

by wcooley on Oct 14, 2009 4:23 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Sadly, I even have to pay the sheep.

It may come in the form of alfalfa, but it costs nonetheless.

by montanatwinsfan on Oct 14, 2009 10:11 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Alfalfa doesn't just grow on trees, you know.

Oh, wait…

"Baseball doesn't owe me a thing. I owe my whole life to baseball." -Kirby Puckett

by fischean on Oct 14, 2009 10:42 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

alfalfa for you, steak dinner for others…but there is always a tab to be paid…

by caluofmn on Oct 15, 2009 10:10 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

True

Technically we all pay for it, some are just much more casual about it.

by wcooley on Oct 15, 2009 3:09 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Make that three.

by lookatthosetwins on Oct 14, 2009 9:34 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I think TT does a great job for "amateurs"

I’m here as much for the comments and discussion as I am for any news, although I usually feel I leave here having learned something.

It’s interesting you’ve tried to split the “No” vote into 3 separate blocs.

"Don't take life for granted, because tomorrow isn't promised to any one of us." -Kirby Puckett  
—Hasta la victoria siempre ¡Patria o Muerte! –Ernesto "Che" Guevara

by less cowbell, more 'neau on Oct 14, 2009 3:12 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Conspiracy?

You’re on to me, I secretly want everyone to pay for this so I rigged the poll results.

by wcooley on Oct 14, 2009 4:16 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I knew it!

"Don't take life for granted, because tomorrow isn't promised to any one of us." -Kirby Puckett  
—Hasta la victoria siempre ¡Patria o Muerte! –Ernesto "Che" Guevara

by less cowbell, more 'neau on Oct 14, 2009 5:48 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I don't know I think any one...

…halfway smart can figure out what Bonnes and co. did. He just did it first so we didn’t have to.

Dear Firpo, looks like my stock is fine.

by MNPundit on Oct 15, 2009 3:57 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Cats are out of the bag

on Web 2.0.

If someone is good enough, even his Lordship Gleeman, then put up a paywall and see what happens. (Remember his 2008 Twins Prospect Rankings? Tied for 40th, as an afterthought, Denard Span. He never even saw him play; just read his stat lines.)

The truth is that even the NYTimes experiment with paywalls failed miserably because the whole ethos of the Web is that others quote and link back to your work, thus driving traffic to your site. And EVERYONE needs site traffic.

So, there will be no charging for content in the age of open source content platforms. And, as CMath explains, the content is much better now than when newspapers tried to split truth into two parts, two half-truths, in order to keep from offending.

For once, corporations can be criticized and I can read directly what real people write and think about the mess they’ve made of the world. I call that progress. And the reason we all have to work twice as hard, for less pay, and see health care go through the roof, while two wars bleed on for a full decade, while newsrooms cut reporters? Shareholder value.

Don’t blame the Internet my friend. There’s far more sinister things shaking out than what’s playing on your computer screen.

by Old Twins Cap on Oct 15, 2009 4:44 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Wall Street Journal

charges for some content, and they seem to be doing well (not that I read any Murdoch).

But I agree with you on the shareholder issue. As David Simon (formerly of the Baltimore Sun) has shown, corporate newspapers were cutting staff before internet competition when they were basically monopolies with huge profits in the name of even bigger dividends. That model was not working.

It will be interesting to see what these newspapers look like when they re-emerge from bankruptcy.

by wcooley on Oct 15, 2009 8:10 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

No comparison between real journalists and bloggers

Journalism is a profession, and it involves talking to the people who are the subjects of your writing.

If Pat Reusse rips on an athlete or coach, he eventually has to face him.

If Gleeman is at the top of the online writing world it doesn’t say much, because he’s a guy who rarely if ever has to face the people he blogs about.

Real life isn’t about kicking around a bunch of numbers.

In journalism you are ostracized for plagiarism. Online, you become a “senior writer.” Handing out a title online basically means giving someone a scrap because their ego is so big they are willing to write regularly, but their talent is so meager they must do it for free.

Online is the new corner bar. People who were never part of the in crowd in high school can make the friends they never had by mutual bias; if they can find mutual hate they are really in their element. The easiest way to make a friend in a new clubhouse was always to find a mutual enemy. Same with blogs, except you get paid to be in the clubhouse.

Good journalists face making enemies by writing the truth, even if they don’t personally like facing the truth while making enemies.

Also, most newspapers make money, particularly smaller newspapers. They don’t make the double-digit profits they demanded at one time, but they still make profits that would be the envy of any retail supermarket, where margins are low single-digits.

Amused observer of the old ladies backyard laundry gab.

by Johnny Safron on Oct 18, 2009 11:22 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Plus.......

behind every good journalist is usually a fine editor.

plus copy editors who check facts…..most of the time…..

plus, a paying reader base (which seems to be rapidly slipping).

Visit www.TwinsCards.com and check out "rosters" to see my collection!

by rosterman on Oct 18, 2009 12:12 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Anger

You seem to have a lot of hatred for a medium that you participate in.

by wcooley on Oct 18, 2009 12:16 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

my floor is looking pretty dirty... BETTER GET OUT THE BROOM!!!

by natetheskate on Oct 21, 2009 11:34 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

You obviously have an idealized view of journalism

If you had actually worked in journalism, you would know that relying on sources is a two-edged sword. You can only print what your sources tell you. Getting them to tell the truth is another matter. They rarely like to tell the truth (or at least the whole truth). They like to tell the story that makes them look good.

Last night Mike Pomaranz interviewed Denny Hecker. Hecker told him a pack of lies designed to make him look better. No matter what pointed questions Mike asked, Hecker spun his story as the benevolent victim of a huckster who duped him into the collapse of his main business, and the bad old auto companies who denied him credit. Is that the truth? Of course not. Hecker’s a crook. He got cut off by the auto companies because they are held to different standards now that the US government owns a stake in them.

Needing to face your sources waters down your content. Sources hate the truth. Matt Drudge became a force because he didn’t care about facing his sources. He was able to tell the truth.

Gleeman is more accurate than LEN III because he can rely on facts more often than LENIII, rather than on quotes from the FO, which is telling a story or confusing the opposition or some other motive not aligned with telling the truth. On our local scene, if you’re confined to quoting Gardy and Billy and Dave, you’re not going to get much truth. You’ll get the official Twins version of the truth. It’s all PR. Occasionally Gardy will mouth off and get taken behind the woodshed for it. But by and large, you need to apply a pretty thick filter to try to get truth out of the official Twins sources.

"You're thinking too much. Just have fun." -- Bennie "The Jet" Rodriguez in Sandlot

by cmathewson on Oct 22, 2009 1:41 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs