The Blogging Journalist

The Guardian Examines Bloggers' Impact On Criticism

Back on July 11, 2008, the Guardian of London restaurant critic Jay Rayner, writing in the publication's Theatre & Performing Arts blog, noted that, "... across the United States newspaper critics covering a range of disciplines - film, dance, television - are being laid off or reassigned." See "Blog critics: A penny for your thoughts? " and "Is it curtains for critics?"

"The reasons are complex but key among them is that, in the age of Rotten Tomatoes and Metacritic, when opinions are freely available all over the web, the newspaper critic is becoming regarded as rather more of a luxury than many publishers feel they can afford," he opines.

Rayner "examined" in the Observer Review "the challenge being posed to established newspaper critics by the democratisation of opinion out on the web."

The discussion is quite revealing. As for me, the only mainstream critic I read regularly is the Chicago Sun-Times' prolific and erudite Roger Ebert. He is also a blogger and author.

Overall, I prefer the diversity of opinion provided by the numerous film and television critics who've emerged in recent years and disseminate their views through blogs. They don't write in what I call the "God is Speaking" tone.

Technorati Tags: Guardian,Ray Rayner,Theatre & Performin Arts blog,Observer Review,Film Critics

Recommended: 'Mercenary Media vs. Missionary Media'

On December 24, 2007, Dan Blank at Dan Blank: Publishing, Innovation & the Web posted an article  headlined "Mercenary Media vs. Missionary Media."  It's a commentary about how John Battelle, Federated Media Publishing's founder and chairman, "categorizes media."

Dan mentions The Blogging Journalist in an update, but that's not the reason I'm recommending his post. I'm recommending it because I think he has an informative perspective on innovation in media and publishing.

Technorati Tags: Dan Blank, Dan Blank: Publishing, Innovation & the Web, John Battelle, Federated Media, Mercenary Media, Missionary Media

Media Matters: 'Jeff Gerth Can't Handle The Truth'

"Her Way: The Hopes and Ambitions of Hillary Rodham Clinton," co-author "Jeff Gerth can't handle the truth," contends Media Matters for America's Jamison Foster in a May 25, 2007, post.

"What happens to an investigative reporter best known for his role "breaking" three "scandals," each of which fell apart upon government investigation?" Foster asks.

"If he's Jeff Gerth, and the Clintons are the subjects of one of those stories, he gets to share a million-dollar book deal to recycle his own flawed reporting and rehash ages-old anecdotes," he said, answering his own question.

"And what did Jeff Gerth produce in exchange for his newfound riches?" Foster also asks, noting that, "In Her Story, Gerth and his co-author, Don Van Natta [Jr], compiled a laundry list of previously reported anecdotes -- some true, some almost certainly false, some "preposterous" -- and repackaged them for sale for $29.99."

I found Foster's piece worth reading. It's always good to know something about authors, journalists and bloggers who pass judgment on others. These days even those of us who hold ourselves out as critics should expect to go under a microscope at some point. It use to be something only sleazy politicians, crooked contractors  and misbehaving actors had to worry about.