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Too much opinion ... even for a blog?

Discussion in 'Journalism topics only' started by Hammer Pants, Mar 19, 2007.

  1. Hammer Pants

    Hammer Pants Active Member

    http://dailyprogress.mgblogs.com/index.php/dailyprogress/category/Web%20Notes/

    Thoughts? I couldn't imagine writing a blog like this, but I wasn't sure if others found it as silly as I did. Not trying to call anyone out here — it's not fun to be picked on by your peers — but doesn't this seem like a stretch, even for a blog?
     
  2. Cousin Jeffrey

    Cousin Jeffrey Active Member

    I think it was more just a case of a poorly written piece of journalism, blog or not. It read like a high school junior wrote it.
     
  3. Overrated

    Overrated Guest

    "They have, without a doubt, the least intelligent, most obnoxious fans in the history of sports (by the way, readers can direct e-mails to Daily Progress Assistant Sports Editor Todd Merchant.)"

    The guy can't even take the emails himself? What a vaj.
     
  4. Starman

    Starman Well-Known Member

    A lame attempt to imitate The Sports Guy, who, Allah knows, is plenty lame enough in the first place.
     
  5. Hammer Pants

    Hammer Pants Active Member

    I didn't want to judge how well or poorly it was written ... it was the point that worried me. Surely most of us don't think blogs give us a forum for that, do we?
     
  6. SF_Express

    SF_Express Active Member

    OK, a couple of things.

    One, if you click on the assistant sports editor's e-mail link, it's really a mailto to the author. So he IS taking feedback himself, it's a joke, if perhaps a bad one.

    And no, it's not well-written.

    But blogs are for strong opinions and observations; if it's just "no-shit" commentary, it doesn't serve much of a purpose. So yes, blogs DO give us a forum for that, short of tastelessness or libel.

    This is neither, just not extremely well done.
     
  7. Hammer Pants

    Hammer Pants Active Member

    I guess I've always thought of blogs as a way for us to give a few opinions we couldn't give as beat writers, but not that much. I don't think it should give a beat guy a columnist's license. Maybe my way is wrong, but I can't imagine our SE being cool with stuff like that.
     
  8. Ace

    Ace Well-Known Member

    I agree with SF. It's not news that Vols fans are obnoxious.
     
  9. SF_Express

    SF_Express Active Member

    I hear what you're saying. But if you're going to accept blogs on their face, then you have to be willing to take strong opinion with it -- and not just opinions that leave you comfortable.

    They can be very dangerous (intentionally overstrong word) because they're often unedited, and there's a certain trust level. But we let our people blog on whatever they want, and that includes some non-staff writers. They're just told to be factual, watch the libel and taste issues and try to make the copy clean. Beyond that, that's what blogs are about.
     
  10. SoCalDude

    SoCalDude Active Member

    I think it's another step toward the grave for our profession that somebody is paying somebody to write that crap.
     
  11. Ace

    Ace Well-Known Member

    Technically, if it is a blog, you shouldn't be paying someone to write it.

    If that blog is a fan that is writing from a fan view, it's OK.

    If it is a staffer, it's over the line in my view.
     
  12. SF_Express

    SF_Express Active Member

    Boy, then a lot of newspapers -- good ones -- are starting to go down a path you don't agree with then.
     
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