Gothamist: NY Times To Bloggers: You Got Served

Scott of Slant Point

Tue, 04 Jan 2005 00:37:19 -0500

DU is not a blog. The Times becomes what it loathes. Wrong.

Jackson West

Mon, 03 Jan 2005 15:16:59 -0500

The blog backlash must have started at least six months ago, if the timeliness of the NYT's tech coverage in Circuits is any indication.

Ingrid

Mon, 03 Jan 2005 15:15:36 -0500

I agree with Dave H. here. You can correct a blog and quickly repost with updated/corrected info. Let's wait and see how long it takes the Times to print a correction for those incorrect dates that slipped by their editors in Saturday's biz section. See the chart accompanying this article: http://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/01/business/01stox.html?oref=login

Rob

Mon, 03 Jan 2005 14:57:08 -0500

Oh, it's definitely on.

ryan.

Mon, 03 Jan 2005 11:18:14 -0500

Ha ha. :)

rion

Mon, 03 Jan 2005 11:10:06 -0500

wait, wait... i heard there's no escaping the blog and that blogs had become a force that business can't afford to ignore. when there's backlash and grounding somewhere, there's always PR and hype somewhere else. que sera sera! ;)

Dave H.

Mon, 03 Jan 2005 10:58:35 -0500

That's funny, I got the opposite impression from the article. Whereas outlets like the Times have previously been somewhat dismissive of blogs as self-reinforcing echo chambers, it seems like this article's theme was the blogosphere as a forum for bullsh*it winnowing through a steady stream of feedback. Sure, some of those comments from DU were held up as being exemples of online crackpottery, but the point of the article was to show how other blogs quickly moved to rebut conpiracy and outlandish theories with a more sober account of reality. I think it's the reactive nature of most blogs to developing news stories that is their strength, rather than as a source of primary information.

Standard Deviance

Mon, 03 Jan 2005 10:54:14 -0500

And here I thought I was the only person who watched the NYE Southpark Marathon on Friday. Good taste, Gothamist. 'Scuse me, have to get back to my crackpot. And yes, it's most certainly on.

the crossfader

Mon, 03 Jan 2005 10:46:30 -0500

wait, you mean there wasn't a second gunman on the grassy knoll?

r.

Mon, 03 Jan 2005 10:38:52 -0500

I sort of agree on the "crackpot theorizing" point. There's a pretty self-indulgent element to a lot of people writing weblogs... self-appointed experts and such (I know, newsflash!). Gothamist is a bit more light-hearted and so it's not an issue so much. But I don't think this is a backlash so much as a pendulum swinging back into balance. Enough medium for medium's sake already.

S.D.

Mon, 03 Jan 2005 10:21:52 -0500

An interesting piece, that will hopefully bring peoples expectation of Blogs down to reality. "Democratic Underground" is a Political based Blog, Expecting reasonable and informed discussion of the why and where-for of a Tsumami or other natural disaster is, IMO, a mistake. It seems that people expect Blogs to be accurate sources of information and expect Blogs to have the same standards as Journalism. They aren't and have no obligation to do so. What's interesting to me is that many people seem to fly to Blogs for information before any other source. This past year saw a 58% increase in readership (I bet Gothamist saw more than 58%!) and with the popularity of Broadband, 2005 will likly get a sharp increase due to all the Press...