John Naughton’s column in The Observer tells us “if you really want to know, ask a blogger.” It’s an excellent take on the concept of information authority and the change it’s currently undergoing.
Naughton articulately unpacks the Big Media mindset with regard to amateur journalism, finding three underlying prejudices:
- Professional writers have little more than contempt for their amateur counterparts. Why would anyone write for free, they repeatedly ask in bewilderment. In professional eyes, micro- or nanopublications are seen as nothing more than vanity publishing, “rather than the glorious outbreak of free expression it actually represents,” writes Naughton.
- By definition, anything produced by an amateur is worthless.
- Big Media tends to ignore controversial issues “for the simple reason that the ideological and commercial interests of their proprietors preclude it,” Naughton concludes. Witness mainstream U.S. media coverage of the war on Iraq, the “war” on terrorism, and today’s pending FCC decision on media ownership regulations.
Nicely and concisely done. Highly recommended.
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