Ernie The Attorney: Blogs are ‘unsourced rantings’ says former NY Times editor — John Markoff gave me crap for the stamp collecting quote even though he said (initially) it was OK, then he sent out the quote to all his pals thinking it was funny. It was!
Then I ran across this August reference to a Howell Raines assertion which I’m now convinced is just part of the New York Times policy concerning blogging. This means a prediction. Within 10 months the NYT will have an official blog. You watch!!
From the ‘Department of Supreme Irony’ comes a statement by Howell Raines (the former Executive Editor of the New York Times) that blogging is ‘unsourced ranting’ (the link is to a News.com article that links to an Atlantic Monthly article that you have to subscribe to in order to view).
First of all, Raines’ statement is so completely ludicrous as to be laughable. Weblogs have a lot of shortcomings, but lack of sourcing isn’t one of them.
I agree with Ernie here. In fact blogging is highly sourced ranting!! What is Howell thinking?
BBC News have been flooded by articles about blogs. No doubt, as I pointed out, they are scared because people spend more time borwsing their friends’ blogs rather than reading the news. And why not? Newspapers are objective, but is that really what makes an interesting read?
you all have, of course, seen this, right. it predicts the death-knell of dinosaurs like NYT, which will eventually become quaint newsletters for paper-loving luddites. (flash, i think)
~zj.
Didn’t you once say yourself that including the source is a prerequisite to news blogging? 😛
you all have, of course, seen this, haven’t you? it predicts the death-knell of dinosaurs like the NYT, which will evolve into tiny newsletters for the paper-loving luddite.
Blogs have revolutionised freedom of speech. Sooner or later, people at NYT will be losing their jobs due to declining demand from advertisers, subscriptions, etc.