Blogs...many are still clueless!

My local rag, The Oregoian, ran a commentary on blogs by PSU professor of political science, Regina Lawrence, who is among the clueless. It makes me realize how many Americans can think that academicians are out of touch. The title, Top blogs often too one-sided, would lead one to believe that she entirely misses the point before you even read her commentary. Well you would be right. I don't call myself An Online Pamphleteer to be fair and balanced although I do try not to lie or deceive. But that's really not the point she fails to comprehend. I was going to do a long rebuttal today but I was busy and there was a lot of other news. Well lucky for me and you Jeff Alworth did it for us over at Blue Oregon. It's a long post and I suggest you go read the entire thing but I am going to pick out one or to points that Jeff makes and Professor Lawrence misses.

While the MSM is busy panicking about the fragmentation of media, bloggers are seizing on it. Not everyone can join in a conversation about whether Jack Roberts should run for the Supreme Court--but as newspapers know, very few would even want to. The O [Oregonian] has recently shifted its local content away from politics precisely because there aren't enough readers interested in it. The O has a daily circulation of 350,000 readers. BlueOregon's is less than 1% of that figure--though at 2,000 hits, it's one of the "bigger" blogs. We capitalize on the interest of the readers that the Oregonian can no longer well serve--exactly the reverse of the trend Lawrence sees.

Blogs fill a void that newspapers won't or probably can't fill but they are not a substitute for newspapers and in fact require them.

Blogs are a poor substitute for newspapers. Few of them are hosted by professional journalists, and most of them depend on newspaper reportage to craft their posts. (This post is an example.) But blogs aren't trying to deliver the news. They're trying to make sense of the news. Had Lawrence pondered their efficacy on that score, she might have come away with a different conclusion. I'd love to see the O continue to look at the effect blogs are having--but they must be critiques based on someone who actually understands the medium.

Through comments and trackback blogs allow a conversation about the events, issues and news. Yes we have opinions. I wouldn't go to all this trouble to be a stenographer. Are you listening Judy Miller? Go check out the rest of Jeff's post , and Professor Lawrence, maybe you should have spent an hour or two checking out the blogosphere before you wrote about it.