MSM is looking over their shoulder, blogs are closing in

by MaPatsFan on May 17, 2009 1:56 PM EDT in Opinion Comment 7 comments

I don't claim to be a journalist. I didn't go to journalism school, study the craft for years, and work my way up through the ranks. I decided to do this gig because a) I like writing and b) I love the New England Patriots. It's a darn good marriage if I do say so myself. I have no illusions about what I do. Without access, I'm "at the mercy" of mainstream media to feed me tidbits of knowledge that I can comment on. I'm not talking to the actual source, but hearing it through a second party, if you will.

The difference, and I think MSM is catching on to this, is my job is not to regurgitate what I hear from the source. My job is to formulate an opinion and solicit feedback. My job is to generate discussion. The initial story I write is merely the introduction. All of the comments and feedback from participants of this community are what really matters. The story begins to take on a life of its own and that's the coolest thing that can possibly happen. It gives everyone an equal voice and a chance to be heard. I've found some exceptionally smart fans on this site and it's truly a blast to read their comments, both NE fan and rivals alike.

Call it a failure to understand social networking. Call it a failure to understand how the world now interacts. MSM has been online for a while, but has only recently embraced a "feedback loop" to get fan viewpoints. Threaded discussions (called blogs these days) have been around since the Internet's news protocol. If you know what a newsgroup is or have used USENET before, then you're probably as old as me.

Why the tirade? One of SB Nation's bloggers and head writer at Stampede Blue, BigBlueShoe, was accused of being a "weenie" by Indianapolis Star columnist Bob Kravitz. Kravitz's big issue? BBS doesn't use his real name when he blogs. Neither do I nor the millions of people who frequent the Internet every day. We all use pseudonyms for many different reasons. Some to protect their personal privacy and some because it's cool to come up with a name that may represent your personality or whatever. In my case, my real name is easily found by sending an email to the site's email address. In addition, when I interact with members of the media, I always use a personal account that has my real name in it. Easy peasy.

Kravitz's contention, how can one have credibility if he doesn't use his real name, is a little silly. Kravitz essentially tried to sandbag BBS on a radio talkshow loaded with his cronies. What he didn't know (interesting that a columnist didn't do his research) was that SB Nation is picked up by so called "legitimate" sports news outlets CBSsports.com, SI.com, and YahooSports.com. Let's not forget two of our bloggers were given credentials for the NFL draft. And there's more to come.

To be fair, there is a huge amount of crap out there. I have never been a Deadspin fan because I think they write to provoke and they allow vulgarity to run rampant. I'm no prude, but my personal writing style lacks vulgarity because it's my opinion that I don't need it to get my point across. That being said, it's easy to lump bloggers into one big, ginormous cess pool of...you get the point. But there's some darn good bloggers out there, providing thoughtful opinion and generating discussion as fans, not as know-it-alls used to espousing about anything they want without fear of feedback.

Credibility has nothing to do with using your real name. Credibility comes from writing good material that gets the juices flowing and makes people think. It also comes from acknowledging that there are a LOT of smart people out there and reading what they have to say is the best part of this gig. SB Nations motto, Of, by and for the fans, says it all.

And I wouldn't have it any other way.

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Change is harder for some people

Bob Kravitz’s article placed the blogger “problem” in the wrong place. It’s like blaming your infestation on the ants, instead of the lump of sugar on your floor that caused them to come inside in the first place.

Kravitz’s niche is reporting news and writing opinions about the Colts, and he’s upset that the bloggers have marked off their areas inside what used to be his territory. Instead of trying to understand what’s going on and adapt, he chose to call out BBS and call him names (soooooo unprofessionally juvenile for a degreed MSM journalist). That’s just fear of change rearing its ugly head on the part of Kravitz.

The thing is, Kravitz has more access to the players and the team than the bloggers that currently outnumber and outwrite him. That’s the huge advantage he currently holds and should exploit while he still has it – not waste energy trying to keep sweeping the ants out of the room

Both bloggers and credentialed newspapermen can co-exist – as long as the newspapers themselves still exist that is.

Keep the faith!

by Marima on May 17, 2009 2:47 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

There's one more huge, important difference

You almost picked up on it here:

The difference, and I think MSM is catching on to this, is my job is not to regurgitate what I hear from the source.

That’s not supposed to be the MSM’s job either, but it’s all an awful lot of reporters do these days. And in this era of televised news conferences and streaming video on the internet, the last thing an interested reader needs is a stenographer.

Any idiot can tell you “this is what happened, this person said this, this other person said that.” The best reporters do that while adding analysis and bringing additional information to the story — and that’s exactly what the best bloggers do, too.

by RSNexile on May 17, 2009 5:06 PM EDT reply actions 1 recs

Agreed.

I don’t trust much of what I hear from many of the traditional media sources these days. I refuse to use MSM as they’re clearly not in line with mainstream thinking. Protection of corporate interests ain’t popular these days and people are flocking away from traditional sources to new sources such as blogs which are less filtered (if at all) and people can make better judgments as to credibility.

On the news end, I don’t trust anything ABC/Fox/CNN sends out and am very wary of CBS and NBC. Save a few hours a night on MSNBC, there isn’t anything worth watching in terms of tv news.

On the sports end, the morning sports section the Globe puts out doesn’t work for me. The scores aren’t updated, there’s not enough space for out of town scores/events and they don’t bother with a few sports I love like rugby/Aussie Rules Football. So, I go online. I head to direct sources like mlb.com and nhl.com for the games themselves. SB Nation for news/opinions and for tv, NHL, NFL and MLB all have their own networks with extensive programming and that covers me.

by Danno11 on May 17, 2009 10:56 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Varied sources

I head to direct sources like mlb.com and nhl.com for the games themselves. SB Nation for news/opinions and for tv, NHL, NFL and MLB all have their own networks with extensive programming and that covers me.

For me, this is the meat of the whole thing – varied sources and sites to accomplish different things. I would add another category: interaction. I believe many folks today want to interact with story authors and also contribute their knowledge to the fray. Personally, that’s why I like this medium so much.

Blogger at SBNation's Patriots blog, Pats Pulpit

by MaPatsFan on May 18, 2009 8:38 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Specialization is key too...

For instance, I sawe the best hockey game I’ve seen in years on the NHL Network yesterday afternoon. It was a Memorial Cup game (Major Junior Hockey) between Windsor and Rimouski…phenomenal action. No traditional media outlet would have bothered with it at all.

And that’s what’s great about blogs, they can specialize and really drill down and hit subject matter that traditional media sources don’t have the inclination to cover/discuss. And the best part is that everyone has a voice.

by Danno11 on May 18, 2009 12:56 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Specialization, excellent point

Blogger at SBNation's Patriots blog, Pats Pulpit

by MaPatsFan on May 18, 2009 1:06 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

The thing I believe is that just like the newspapers, sports columnists are going the way of the dinosaur. I know that sounds cliche, but it’s true because they choose not to adapt. Right now, I believe that beat writers serve more of a greater purpose now and will do so in the future than columnists like Mr. Kravitz. That’s because either a) it’s required by their bosses, or b) they, the beat guys, are willing to do so and want to embrace it. Either way, we’ll be paying attention more to the beat reporters as the years wear on.

I don't need no instructions to know how to rock!

by R_Adragna on May 17, 2009 5:28 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs