Cuban and blogs and the locker-room, Part II

No, he's not speaking to the quality, or the improvement, per se, of newspapers' blogs, at all, with his take on the NYT and its (or any other newspaper's) blogs.

He's speaking from what should be newspapers' business standpoint, and suggesting as key, that differentiation there is -- or, that differentiation we like to think there is, and that we hope readers see and believe there is -- between our blogs (or extras, or live reports, or whatever you want to call them) and, say, some fan boy's blog, or any other blog not newspaper connected/generated.

Because the connection to a newspaper implies -- again, theoretically and hopefully -- that those blogs contain a greater journalistic standard of reporting, ethics, depth and authority, etc. that is/should be typically associated with a papers' brands, and with our institution, in general.

And he's saying that is what papers should be selling, more actively and with greater accentuation on those points, because they're the things that can, and should, differentiate newspaper' blogs/extras/live reports, from others not so designated.

Actually, Cuban's saying what we've been saying. He's just also contending that we've not been selling ourselves very well. Again, this is him looking at things strictly from a business point of view, but from that perspective, I think he may be right in much of what he said.

His clamping down in the locker room is another, separate issue -- something that he, alone, has decided, with regards to blogs as they relate to his team.

 

It appears that the NBA has told Mark Cuban that he can't ban Tim McMahon bloggers from the locker room:

http://www.blogmaverick.com/2008/03/29/bloggers-in-the-locker-room-its-the-pros-vs-the-joes/

Cuban's going to show them by allowing any blogger who posts on Blog Maverick and that Cuban likes into the locker room!! It'll RUIN the biz!!