Sunday Discussion: Blogging Integrity

I like the bloggers view because it is usually ran by a fan who is not going to pull punches when there is something they do not like. They have no access to lose, so they are not afraid to speak their mind.

They also have a segmented audience and can write to that audience instead of a larger audience (which I prefer).

Honestly, I have not read a column by a newspaper writer in years. I prefer the writing style many blogs have over the newspaper writers. I think it will just take some time before blogs are more accepted, although the fact that they don’t have to answer to anyone and can throw out outlandish rumors without a shred of truth does not help their case though.

I read something over at Blueshirt Banter (the New York Rangers blog at SBN) and it discusses the issue very well. It’s sad that mainstream media outlets don’t give bloggers respect. Some do, (like AtlantaFalcons.com’s interaction with the various blog’s across the web), but most don’t and this Toronto Sun incident is a perfect example of the relationship between the two media forms.

Whether they (Mainstream) choose to believe it or not, Weblogging is fast becoming the new form of Sports information. If they choose to ignore it then newspapers and such will become completly obsolete. Twitter, Facebook, these sites all point to how people choose to get their news and communicate, and if that isn’t an indication then I don’t know what is.

That is silly. Each is clawing over an increasingly unprofitable business. To be honest, they should work together. I am of the opinion that blogs tend to churn out better analysis than the MSM, but that the reporting that the MSM provides, though flawed, is totally crucial.

The other problem is that blogs tend to be more flash-in-the-pan, some are good for a couple of months or a year or two and then die away as the people who run them move on. You don’t have that problem with the St. Petersburg Times – they’re pretty much the same year in, year out. So it takes a lot of vigilance and hard work to find quality blogs churning out quality posts.

Finally, I think that the MSM and blogs should work together more. The blogs give cheap content (something papers always want) that happens to be pretty high-quality. And the MSM can provide the best advertising for these blogs, since they reach so many people.

In my opinion, they both kind of need the other to survive. I prefer blogging because I enjoy the human aspect behind the reporting and, let’s face it, as a media member you focus on so much that you’re not as intelligent on a topic as you probably should be. Bloggers tend to stick to a sport, or to a team, etc. As a member of the media, you may know everything about the Lakers and Celtics but you don’t know much about the Hornets, which is what made reading reports about this offseason all the more irritating.

However, if the media didn’t report anything, bloggers would be left with nothing to talk about. The way I see it, 75% of what bloggers do is disect original media reports. They kind of need eachother to work. But, personally, I prefer the blogging.

Orlando seems to have struck a nice balance with the Sentinel, the Magic organization, the SB Nation’s Orlando Pinstriped Post and TrueHoops MagicBasketball.net (and other blogs, etc.). Each will link to the others articles and analysis and tend to be very complimentary of each other. Obviously the credibility and quality of the blog’s content has made them a good resource for the paper.

Hopefully this type of relationship will become more widespread and make a better world for us fans.