When I set up this site in 1999, we didn’t call such things blogs. The actual definition of the word, though, is “A frequent, chronological publication of personal thoughts and Web links.” Based on that, I would say that pretty much all Mac sites fit into that category, unless they concentrate mostly on news rather than commentary. Some may also regard it as instant journalism, particularly in light of what happened to CBS News when certain questionable documents about President Bush’s service in the National Guard came to light. Within hours after CBS delivered the news, bloggers gave evidence a thorough going over and pronounced the documents in question fake. It took days for CBS News to get the message, and that’s a real indictment against the mainstream media, especially since the fraud was so obvious and so easily produced. As for me, I’ve straddled the fence here, since I’ve also written a lot of material for the mainstream media. I see value in both, and if nothing else, it puts us old-time journalists on the alert to get it right the first time. Otherwise, reports about our mistake will be spread far and wide. Journalism for the rest of us? Yes indeed! Have a nice day.

This article was posted on Saturday, January 8th, 2005 at 2:27 AM and is filed under News and tagged with: Bloggers, Cbs, Cbs News, Fraud, Journalism, Journalists, Mac Night Owl, Mac Sites, Mainstream Media, Mistake, National Guard, Nice Day, Old Time, Owl, President Bush, Rant.