None dare call it blogging.

April 1, 2003 8:50 PM

Superseding the mainstream media, or "quirky parasites"? Less of interest here than the IraqFilter context itself - which amounts to the question "Is blogging to Gulf II what TV was to Vietnam and cable was to Gulf I?" - is an established medium caught in the act of visibly sizing up this comer, this new kid on the block, this parvenu we know as "blogging." Is it a valid new medium of reportage, fit to take its place alongside print and broadcast? Or is it merely parasitic, interstitial, even marginal? Inquiring minds want to know. (Note O'Donnell's hedges and his final & bizarrely misplaced condescension: "Maybe Allbritton will start a trend - bloggers no longer dependent on the mainstream for their material." WTF?)
posted by adamgreenfield (12 comments total)

..isn't it that the above previously mentioned mediums were at one point considered to be "merely parasitic, interstitial, even marginal" themselves?

*Also of note, the drudgereport.com, now the bloated blogware 'axis of evil' of all 'accredited' news outlets, has a daily readership larger than that of the washington post.. Blogs as 'valid'? Too early to call. Blogs as 'having arrived'? That may be the easier call..
posted by jazzkat11 at 9:18 PM on April 1, 2003

Also also of note: The transcript got Kevin SITES name wrong.

Look at me! I'm fact-checking their ass! It's a blogging paradise world!
posted by rusty at 10:28 PM on April 1, 2003

I was gonna fact-check rusty's ass, there, but I got distracted by some p0rn.
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 10:30 PM on April 1, 2003

stavros - I know just what you mean.
posted by soyjoy at 10:34 PM on April 1, 2003

Seriously, though, don'tcha love how they mix in Salam Pax's stuff as though it's going on now, or yesterday, or, um, a week ago? As though the blog had been updated at all since day 5 of the war? Now that's quality professional journalism, folks. Don't try this at home.
posted by soyjoy at 10:40 PM on April 1, 2003

I cannot believe they didn't mention the agonist which has become sort of a phenomonon. I have been addicted to it since the war began as have many others. He's recently been tapped by some major news sources.
posted by SweetIceT at 11:49 PM on April 1, 2003

Yes, but more importantly, has Kelley really been moved by everything that's happened? Do you believe he cares?
posted by homunculus at 12:19 AM on April 2, 2003

"Is blogging to Gulf II what TV was to Vietnam and cable was to Gulf I?"

Well, let's take an investigative approach to this premise.

Kottke.org - "I am bad with names. I've forgotten all but three of the names of my new co-workers...I have only so many slots in my short term memory. Many weeks of "hey...you there..." to follow."

a.wholelottanothing.org - "So to recap, I take a photo with my phone, push about 7 buttons to send it off to a secret email account on one server. A cronjob on a different server checks the account every 10 minutes, then processes the messages and sends the......"

plasticbag.org - "My co-worker Dorian's stunningly cute and gorgeous little baby boy has started doing little early-morning exercises. Aw..."

textism.com - "Key thing here is to sweat out some of the sugars from, but under no circumstances brown, the onions. Keep the flame low and stir frequently with a wooden spoon, ideally the kind that’s sort of squared off at the end"

I think blogging is to Gulf War II as apples are to oranges.
posted by y6y6y6 at 5:28 AM on April 2, 2003

Actually saw this on the TV. Much of a muchness...

Besides, it was mainly about Australian webloggers. The Agonist, as far as I can tell, isn't Australian.
posted by GrahamVM at 5:42 AM on April 2, 2003

Blogging is significant to other bloggers and that's about it.
posted by monkeyman at 5:46 AM on April 2, 2003

I have two quibbles with that, monkeyman: one, nonsense. Two, even if it's true, what happens when everyone becomes a blogger?
posted by adamgreenfield at 6:28 AM on April 2, 2003

That's pretty much it, really. Once you get into reading blogs there's a good chance you'll start one yourself.
posted by GrahamVM at 6:30 AM on April 2, 2003