Bob CollinsFrom the “Blog as Boogeyman” files:
(1) On Midmorning this morning, author Jane Hamilton suggested blogs are making it difficult for the next generation of young writers to be discovered.
“How are the gifted young voices going to rise up through the murk of the blogosphere?” she told Kerri Miller. “How will we find them? It might be harder for them to get established and make a living. There’s so much to wade through and publishers might not necessarily be willing to invest in a young person who’s finding their way.”
However, she said “Good writing will surface and good writers will be able to carry on and we will want to read them.”
(2) The New York Times uses the broad brush to lament that blogs aren’t about credibility.
But seeking credibility may be a less-important strategy for the blogs at this stage. Mr. Arrington, a lawyer, is quick to point out that he has no journalism training. He is at ease, even high-minded, in explaining the decisions to print unverified rumors.
Mr. Arrington and the other bloggers see this not as rumor-mongering, but as involving the readers in the reporting process. One mission of his site, he said, is to write about the things a few people are talking about, “the scuttlebutt around Silicon Valley.” His blog will often make clear that he’s passing along a thinly sourced story.
For the record, it was the New York Times — printed on dead trees — that went out of its way in the middle of a presidential campaign to suggest the Republican nominee was having an affair while providing no attribution for the very sloppy article.
