DISQUS

Martin Stabe: Attention journalists: Focus on blog signal, not noise

  • Bobbie Johnson · 2 years ago
    YAB wrote an awful column for the Indy in which she fulminated about bloggers for being boring and self-obsessed, while wondering how on earth they had the time (and surely that must mean the rest of their life is rubbish etc).

    "But Yasmin, you write a *column*," I thought. "Sometimes it's boring, and pretty much all columns are self-obsessed."

    "And you're all over the telly."

    "And the radio."

    "And the newspapers, come to think of it. How do you find the time?"
  • Martin · 2 years ago
    Bobbie, Yes, I remember it well.

    Justin McKeating did a rather thorough job demolishing her argument.

    There was one other part of the Dale/YAB exchange that I cut out of this post:

    "There are some bloggers who occasionally hit upon the germ of a story," she said.

    "A bit like columnists, then," Dale interjected.

    "Well, I don't break stories — I opine," she answered. "This isn't about me. This is about — do you really want to suggest that bores in bars are telling us truths that we in newspapers aren't?"

    Later in the programme, Dale returned to this issue:

    "I didn't go into blogging to break stories. I went into blogging because I had things to say about political issues of the day, and I wanted to have a platform to say them, and I wanted to have a conversation with people.
  • Linda · 2 years ago
    I think part of the reason that some journalists come to these conclusions is that it is precisely as you put it is the poeple sitting round the quiet table at the back having interesting conversations.

    It's not just the banter of drunken idiots you could compare the nasty ones to, you could day they are vile drunken bullies, spouting venom at anyone who doesn't agree - and telling them when they ask a question that actually 'the conversation is over' anyway.

    If the woman has had death threats, is it really hard to follow that she hasn't delved further? Also, the same people in that pub may mask the nice sensible people in the back by fighting amongst themselves - and that's over a load of claims and counter claims that they can't prove.

    I didn't like the way Andrew Marr quizzed Mr Dale on why it was 'right wing' bloggers who had more to say. The Ministry of Truth and Bloggerheads seem a pretty addictive couple of blogs to me.

    All best.
  • Linda · 2 years ago
    That's all best and I'm sorry about the atrocious spelling - it's late. :)