More bloggers are joining the Main Stream Media…but is that a good thing?

February 24th, 2006

Jessica McBride points out that more bloggers are getting their own columns in local papers.

Her take is:

The MSM is definitely acknowledging the blogosphere.

Acknowledging?

Or co-opting?

Don’t get me wrong.

I’m proud of James and Owen (and possibly Fred) for getting their MSM gigs.

And my favorite part of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel is when Rick or Dean are in it.

The readership for a blogger who becomes a columnist immediately goes up by a factor of 10, cialis sale ailment 000.

But between the bloggers being absorbed into the MSM and the MSM pretending to be bloggers, patient I’m seeing less and less of a difference between the two.

To me, it almost looks like the revolution is ending not with a blog, but with a whimper.

(By the way, I’m not jealous. At Purdue University, I wrote a column for three years that was seen by over 30,000 people a week. I couldn’t walk down the street without being recognized. I’ve done famous and I have no interest in doing it again. As Bill Murray once said “I always want to say to people who want to be rich and famous: “try being rich first. See if that doesn’t cover most of it.”)

Entry Filed under: Media,Milwaukee,Observations

6 Comments Add your own

  • 1. Rick  |  February 24th, 2006 at 1:12 pm

    Great line from Bill Murray. Believe me, no one is rushing up to me and demanding an autograph. I don’t see them “co-opting” bloggers. The MJS really does not touch my stuff and has no rules about, or even suggestions concerning, topics. Occasionally our editor (who is, by the way, conservative) will ask if anyone wants to write on some issue, generally seeking out someone on both sides.

    She is predicting, however, that tommorrow’s piece could make me the most hated columnist.

  • 2. Administrator  |  February 24th, 2006 at 2:26 pm

    I’ve always loved that line. Now if I could just mange to get rich.

    And I look forward to reading tomorrow’s column.

    If it becomes necessary, you can always hide in my basement.

  • 3. Wm. Clement  |  February 24th, 2006 at 3:15 pm

    Well, since I’m here in waukesha visiting my Mum, I’ll look forward to reading it. I don’t normally read the MJS, but in this case, I’ll make an exception. I made my usual stop at Half Price Books, and look! I picked up my copies of The Onion and The Shepherd paper. My friend in Manitowoc enjoys it when I bring him those.

  • 4. Dean  |  February 25th, 2006 at 3:28 am

    Valid points, Elliot, and although I have the conservative distrust of the MSM, I didn’t find out about the revolution until after I started blogging.

    My blog readership has risen somewhat after my column started, even though every time I put my blog URL into my contact information at the end of my articles, the JS removes it.

    My writing for the JS is simply another outlet for my writing. As Rick said, the paper rarely does any editing and only asks that we write about “local” issues.

  • 5. Administrator  |  February 25th, 2006 at 10:52 am

    I guess I should clarify the “readership” line, because Owen was confused by it too.

    I meant that the blogger would have a larger readership when he/she appeared IN the paper.

    Not that the traffic to his blog would increase because of the additional exposure.

  • 6. Dean  |  February 25th, 2006 at 7:54 pm

    And here I thought I was missing something! Thanks for the clarification. And I can agree that for some articles, I’ve received a lot of e-mails. Well, a lot for me. Not as much as Rick will get for today’s piece. I agree with our editor.

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