Why do you like or dislike blogs/bloggers?

About blogs: Afraid of them? No. Disgusted? For the most part, because they are the shining example of the dumbing-down of journalism when newspapers run them on their Web site with no differentation between them and the actual print product.

Signed,
None of Your Fucking Business

 

He and Oliver_Reichenstein need to get together.

 

You know, this was going so well. And then you just had to go get on your soap box and turn it ugly.

First, before you get on your high horse and start criticizing other people's web site design, maybe you should take the time and write some mozilla-specific CSS for your own blogs so your links and headlines don't run into each other in Firefox. And make your blogs look a bit less claustrophobic while you're at it. Second, being a designer (not just newspapers, but also advertising and web), I have had no issue with the design of this site, because the design allows me to access the information easily. I've never had problems reading or finding anything on here, and ultimately, that's what design on the web is supposed to do.

As for your point about credibility and anonymity: You're correct that anonymity makes it hard to assess credibility, but anyone who has spent much time on here can see that most people who post here are straight shooters, and people on here are never hesitant to call bullshit on a post that's inaccurate or unfair, so, at least for me, credibility isn't that much of an issue here. And you know, even on a blog with names, how much more credibility is there? What good does it do me to have your name (or an alias you made up) attached to your blog? Chances are I'll never meet you, and while I can find all the Facebook information about you, they don't tell me much about how credible you are. That's why you take everything you read on the Web with a grain of salt.

If you think this language is shocking and won't be tolerated in the workplace, then you've obviously never set foot inside a newsroom at 30 minutes before deadline. A lot of journalists curse like sailors. The language here is more a result of habits of the trade rather than anonymity. As for the "responsibility" issue, I've never viewed this site as something that actually interests much of the general public. It looks like the people who come here and post here are almost exclusively journalists. And if you want to talk about responsibility, how about the responsibility of not filling kids' minds with the kind of low-brow, unsupported opinions that are found on so many blogs? Poisoning youths' minds with misinformation are just a bit worse than showing them a few curse words that they already know.

And by the way, "on the carper"? "if you all has real names"? I usually don't nitpick about people's typos on Web posts since it's just a silly thing to do (and I didn't jump on you for your double 9s in the questions), but there were several typos in this one post alone. You're posting on a board filled with journalists, so don't be surprised to get jumped on for typos. And try proofreading before you post.

I respect good bloggers, but this little tidbit just comes off as arrogant and self-important. "Greater good for society"? You run a blog in an innumerable sea of blogs, and you're talking about the impact of what you write in the context of "greater good for society"? Hell, many people on here write things that are read by a whole lot more people than the number who read your blogs, and those journalists aren't arrogant enough to talk about their writings' impact on the greater good. This attitude is one of the reasons a lot of journalists hate blogs. And what suggested to you that the people here care whether your blogs link to this site? Or that we cared about your judgment, considering most of us didn't even know you existed until yesterday? Heck, I can go start five blogs right now and link to SportsJournalists.com on every one of them. Does it mean anything? Your blogs are just one voice in an ocean of voices, each screaming to draw attention to itself. That's not a comment on the quality of your blog, just an observation about the relative importance of any blog given the vast number of them in existence.

What's this obsession with your site traffic? Worried that you're shouting and no one is listening? Oh no, nobody is coming to my site to read MY opinions. And yes, SportsJournalists.com certainly looks like it needs to inflate traffic stats, considering how few posts there are on here. (Sorry, not sure how to do the sarcastic font on here). You are right that not having an RSS reader is "old media" (though that remark comes off as a bit snide as well), but you again fail to consider the community that this board serves and their media consumption habits. Also, I've never seen this site go more than 15 minutes without a couple new posts. Maybe if other sites have new content as frequently as this site, their readers would be more inclined to actually go to the site and see what's new.

You started off this thread saying this isn't an invitation for flames. If you mean it, leave the arrogance out of your posts. Personally, I was going to be as respectful to you as you are to this board. This is the wrong forum for you to start getting judgmental and self-important, because plenty of people will call your BS before you finish typing.

 

I knew this was not going to end well. And I love every minute of it.

BLOGS BLOGS BLOGS!!!!!!

 

And you said you didn't read it...I am working those things out...but perhaps you could educate me here..I add the Athens dateline because of the content I add at the beginning (which is at times more than in that profile), and I put the Bristol dateline because the release came from Bristol...

 

PS: Using the word "profile" indicates you've actually done some research, interviewing and writing instead of just cutting and pasting an official biography.

BLOGS!!! BLOGS!!! BLOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOGGGGGGGGSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!

 

Did someone say BLOGS!?

 

If you weren't there, it doesn't get a dateline. Simple rule most people learn in J-School.

 

When did I say I didn't read it? I think you're mixing me up with some others here. Easy to do, with all the damned anonymity and all.

A dateline is the place where you gathered the information. Posting a press release does not mean you gathered any information. You shouldn't use a Bristol dateline, unless you are in Bristol. If ALL your gathering is done in Athens, you shouldn't use any datelines, IMO.

Some major newspapers put a New York dateline on a story that is based in Virginia, because their legwork was done in New York and that's what a dateline signifies. I think that looks dumb, just like I think your Athens dateline looks dumb on a "profile" about an ESPN personality that is a complete copy-and-paste of the profile accessed here: http://www.espnmediazone.com/bios/Talent/Scott_Stuart.htm, up to and including the typo that Scott "was graduated from the University of North Carolina". :

 

Rack 'im. ;D

 

@CaptZulu - Fair enough. As far as the CSS, yes I know it has problems. Unfortunately on one it is template code I am trying to fix, but the documentation is poor. That will teach me not to depend on other people's code. Once I migrate to a different platform, I hope to address these and other issues. For the typos, no excuse except that I was typing fast as I had some code compiling in the background (and the eye doctor told me today why my glasses have been messing me up for a year, but that is a another story).

On the other site (the older one), I am going to be upgrading the database template over the holidays that should fix the problems there.

To the others who felt that I was stoking the fires, that was not my intention. Sometimes I let the hair on my neck raise up on some hot button things, and even though I try to be, in my mind, nonjudgmental, it does not always come across this way. The intention of this thread was, and still is, to gather information for a piece. Unfortunately I fell for the bait some people put in here. bad on my part.

I am serious though when I ask you all to be conscious of what you write on this site. It really does not matter if it is part of the newsroom culture. The site is open to people of all ages to read, and I ask if you would want YOUR children (current or future) reading some of the content that is on here.

So I promise to do my best to be a good citizen here and learn from you all. Fair enough?

 

Yeah, I had fixed some of the typos and old information on that profile, but obviously missed some.That is why I add the caveat at the start that the profile is "As published by <insert network name here>.

The only reason for datelines, honestly, was because the template driving the site was forcing me to put something in there because it was not time/date stamping content correctly. One of the bugs that needs to be ironed out. Once I have those worked out, the need for any datelines will go away, unless truly warrented.

Just as an FYI, the profiles are being added so that when content is posted, the profiles for people mentioned in the content will automatically be linked. Interestingly, every network I have contacted has been very gracious in allowing access to and permission to reprint except for one: The NFL Network.. Even though they do not provide the content on their site, they will not allow ANYBODY to publish it (or so they say).