Bloggers do make a difference.
Zoe posted about a journalist called Nicholas Hellen messing with a blogger (Girl with a one-track mind).
Guyana Gal regarding the same issue poses a question: can bloggers make a difference?
Media tends to act according to plenty of external influences (money, political interests, ratings, etc...), bloggers usually post things as they see them. True enough bloggers can distort information just the same way media does, but regardless of that bloggers talking about the same issue will end up presenting you several different viewpoints instead of a "digest" of the viewpoints according to a certain journalist or editor.
Plus bloggers send their voices all over this planet when they step on their soap boxes. Even though some media companies are quite global nowadays they don’t seem to be able to keep up with the speed the bloggosphere is conveying information, in fact plenty of journalists seem to be getting info for their stories on recent distant events from blogs.
Society gains when information, ideas, opinions can be transmitted to all who may be interested without being filtered.
Information is power, controlling information has always been one of the main concerns of totalitarian regimes. Being able to blog is a form of freedom, just as being able to read blogs is.
Guyana Gal regarding the same issue poses a question: can bloggers make a difference?
Media tends to act according to plenty of external influences (money, political interests, ratings, etc...), bloggers usually post things as they see them. True enough bloggers can distort information just the same way media does, but regardless of that bloggers talking about the same issue will end up presenting you several different viewpoints instead of a "digest" of the viewpoints according to a certain journalist or editor.
Plus bloggers send their voices all over this planet when they step on their soap boxes. Even though some media companies are quite global nowadays they don’t seem to be able to keep up with the speed the bloggosphere is conveying information, in fact plenty of journalists seem to be getting info for their stories on recent distant events from blogs.
Society gains when information, ideas, opinions can be transmitted to all who may be interested without being filtered.
Information is power, controlling information has always been one of the main concerns of totalitarian regimes. Being able to blog is a form of freedom, just as being able to read blogs is.
posted by DCveR at 12:53 PM
8 Comments:
Quite a thought provoking post, D. It is true, bloggers 'distort' information, but I think / hope most bloggers understand that what they are reading is one person's point of view.
Media, on the other hand, have put themselves up as The Authority on information and most folks believe EVERYTHING once it's printed or on air.
It's the way the media abuse power...that's what gets me so furious.
Oh! Have you noticed how media people PROTECT each other? Have you noticed how they don't squeal each other's private lives?
Gosh what a nasty email from the Sunday Times. There isn't much that shocks me about how low people will stoop, but I was very disturbed by the aggressive tone of the journalist. I wasn't aware that the Sunday Times was a gutter tabloid...
I love blogging but on a couple of occasions I have had people try to crassly remove my anonymity. There is one blogger that repeatedly does it, libelling me by making up stories and even printing what they think is my name but not even putting it up correctly. I think some bloggers and most definitely the media in general abuse what they think is their power. I really like Abby Lee and my heart went out to her when I read that post. Thanks for bringing this to my attention x
Okay, this is weird. How did you come across Zoe? I have know Zoe and Andy in Real Life for six years.
Small world.
Oh and to answer your question. Last year a Chinese girl lost her father in NY. He was shot in cold blood for a small amount of cash while delivering Chinese food.
She was stuck in Europe with no money.
I posted her story on my blog and she received a ton of flowers, cards, money and support. Her letter thanking us all was moving. We made a difference.
oh michael, what a surprise to see you here, and what a charitable thing that you did on your blog.
D, bloggers DO make a difference, journalists DO count on RELIABLE blogs for information - and the good journos will even tip them off .... there is justice somewhere in this world, but it's hard to find, sometimes :-(
Hey Zoe, isn't it weird? From 2001 and all day group MSN chats to this. LOL.
And thank you. Kiss the twat a hig for me.
The totalitarian regime I work for seems to consider your links pornography so I can't open them. I suspect they know its the kind of incendiary issue that causes widespread rioting and an anarchal uprising the likes of which no totalitarian regime has ever seen. They're threatened by the great truths we bloggers are sharing underground, and they should be.
Power to the cyber-people!
GG: Media people, doctors, lawyers, masons... people in the same class always tend to protect each other. Guess it's part of our ages old heritage... from the guilds and stuff.
NML: Some bloggers expose themselves, some bloggers keep anonymous like me.
Even though I can to certain extent accept that by exposing him/herself a blogger becomes a public figure and forfeits some of his/her privacy, when a reporter invades that blogger's relatives' privacy things have gone too far beyond any doubt.
phoenix: It's kind of hard to spend a lot of time reading blogs and NOT come across Zoe. I do remember that gesture of yours, it does illustrate that bloggers do make a difference!
zoe: Truth be said, I've known a case of journalists becoming aware about something from a blog, researching it further and then publishers keeping them from mentioning their starting point...
chill daddy: You're joking, right? You really can't access the links from this post?!
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