Another of those mainstream articles (via India Uncut) in The Times Of India by Shobhan Saxena dismissing the bloggers. Not deviating from the usual complaints the article bashes bloggers because there are too many of us doing too many of personal opinions.
For some reason, blogging is compared to journalism, probably because sometimes the markets and business models overlap. I have also realised most of the times it is started by someone from the traditional media. Otherwise blogging is too personal and opinionated to be in the same league as journalism to compete. Mind you, none is higher, but they are just different animals. I wonder if it is not blogging itself, but the economic effects of blogging that pits the journalists against bloggers.
The article seems to be too critical of us Indian bloggers.
In the West, blogs have become an outlet for the rage that people are no longer allowed to express in the actual world. But, in India, with a booming and vibrant media, journalism without an editorial process is a dangerous trend. It’s easy to dismiss journalism as literature in a hurry, but blogging is just organised gossip.
I think blogging is something that can help the nation reach every individual amongst the millions. It can help someone’s voice reach others without having to go through the waiting period and anxiety of getting published. It can help fellow citizens in the times of crisis.
I hope the journalist will realise someday that blogging is not journalism without editorial process. It is just a place for someone to express him/herself, which sometimes can invite others for discussions and provide opportunity for meeting new people. Here writing is more important than editing because removes all inhibitions and filters between what you feel and what you write. In a sense, it is therapeutical. Probably JP can convince you better. Shobhan, I hope that someday you start blogging, it might help.
PS: These are just my thoughts, unedited.
December 11th, 2006 at 5:14 pm
[...] Tony Hung writes about blogging ignorance, even within the tech community. He mentions an article by Mr. Binstock where he criticizes blogging because majority of the blogs are silly and personal. I think there are a couple of things to consider here. One is that there is no system to blogging. Blogging is one of the activities with least restrictions, so that anyone can start with it, including kids. Blogging is not about any subject, it is up to the blogger whether it is focused on any subject or not. I think this is touted as one of the evil things in blogging, which I think is the biggest advantage. Blogging is about self-expression whether you are doing it for yourself or others, whether it is on a personal matter or professional, whether it is about your kitchen or computer, whether you do it everyday or once a year. As a reader, it is quite easy to avoid blogs that you do not like, or the other way round, it is quite easy to find blogs of your interest. This is not the first time that bloggging and bloggers have been accused of being insincere. I think the biggest problem is that a lot of us consider blogging only within their context. There have been a lot of examples where journalists blame blogging because they see it as a competition. Blogging does not specify a purpose, it is like a tool that can be used for many works and can give many advantages. [...]