PressEthic

I'm quite sure this will be the first and last time anyone links to an ESPN.com column for this class blog, but one need not follow sports to enjoy the following discussion between Bill Simmons (aka "The Sports Guy") and pop culture critic Chuck Klosterman (of "Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs" and "Killing Myself to Live" fame). In between chatting about the merits of Pearl Jam's album "Vitalogy" and whether NBA star Shaquille O'Neal is contemplating a future presidential run, the two popular writers address the topic of the moment, blogs:

(Klosterman): "A term you hear people use a lot these days is 'New Media,' which really just means, 'Electronic Media, Minus the Actual Reporting.' This is what the Internet is, mostly. I constantly see all these media blogs that just link to conventional 'Old Media' articles and pretend to comment upon them, but they add no information and no ideas. They just write, 'Oh, look at this terribly archaic New York Times story. Isn't it pathetic?' But that sentiment is being expressed by someone who's never done an interview and has no tangible relationship to journalism. It all seems kind of uncreative ... New Media will never replace Old Media, because New Media couldn't exist without Old Media; they would have nothing to link to."

(Simmons): "Everyone keeps talking about the Blog Revolution, but what does that even mean? If you were in film school and wanted to make movies for a living, would you create a movie from scratch, or would you just make documentaries about other filmmakers and how much they stunk? You'd make the movie from scratch, right? Well, what's the point of writing about people who write about sports/movies/politics/music if you're not backing up your words with your own columns or features? How do you have credibility then? I could write for a living, I just choose to rip everyone else. What? How does that make sense? What's the ultimate goal there? Why not come up with your own material, angles and thoughts? Wouldn't that be more rewarding? How do you get better? That's what I don't understand."

I like blogs. I read some regularly, and I even write one for fun (and a few greenbacks). They're great at spurring on conversation, at keeping the "MSM" in check, of providing an outlet for people to express themselves. But let's not get carried away here: as Klosterman astutely pointed out, all but a few blogs would be non-existent without the ability to link to the established, traditional "Old" media. And, while growing, they're not even very popular -- according to the Pew Internet & American Life Center study, only 16% have ever visited a blog as of March 2005, and surprisingly large amount of people outside of the metropolitan areas are still unfamiliar with the term "blog." So, while the future of media is uncertain, let's all take a breath and think a moment before dropping out of J-school and starting up a blog. They'll likely continue being an influential, overhyped niche of the overall media landscape for the immediate future.