"Naked" Journalism…

May 17, 2007 by 2 Comments
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What happened yesterday was really bad…

Engadget was duped into believing that Apple was about to announce a delay in the release of both the iPhone and Leopard by several months. They posted the story, and the result was almost immediate – a 4% drop in Apple’s share price. Engadget posted a very visible retraction of the post as soon as they discovered it was inaccurate, and Apple’s stock recovered – ending the day down just slightly.

The turmoil that took place in the market no doubt hurt a lot of people. There are calls for an investigation of the incident, and clearly that needs to happen. There is also some serious criticism of Engadget echoing around out there. Everyone seems to be up on a soapbox preaching the need for basic journalistic ‘integrity’, the need for multiple sources, etc.

I think most of this criticism is misplaced. Bloggers may be journalists, but they are NOT traditional mainstream news journalists.

And I don’t want them to be…

This isn’t to say that bloggers shouldn’t strive to be right. They absolutely should, and every one of them that I know certainly does. But the character of blogs is different from traditional mainstream sources.

Blogs are naked…

Their editorial process takes place in the open. It happens all in real time. You get to see and participate in the distillation of truth from the swirl of rumors, opinions, insights, and facts that many posts start out with. There is nothing hidden.

It’s what makes blogs uniquely compelling and valuable…

This distillation process is exactly what editors in the traditional media do as well. But they do it behind closed doors. With limited perspectives. And no reader participation.

And they don’t always get it right either…

We need blogs that are blogs. I don’t want Seeking Alpha to turn in to the Wall Street Journal. I don’t want AVC to turn in to The New Yorker. Both blogs and mainstream media bring something unique to the table, and together they present a ‘Truth’ neither could easily achieve on their own. They both deserve respect as distinct yet necessary pillars of journalism.

Engadget received information from a source they trusted. The information looked legitimate. They PROMINENTLY posted a retraction as soon as they found out it wasn’t.

We need to stop bashing Engadget for being what it is.

A blog…

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  • http://inrethinking.blogspot.com ashok

    Agreed, but it should be noted that blogs aspire to be something else other than open. They do make claims about truth or the news that tread on other media’s turf.

    What needs to be further noted, of course, is that other media is scared to death of this. Other media sees blogs as trying to replace them, and that’s only not strictly speaking true because of why blogs might want to replace them – blogs are aiming for something a lot higher, their own credibility. Either way, older media is in a lot of trouble in terms of market share.

    Older media will always exist and be hugely beneficial. Blogs are dependent on older forms of media, truly. But I think holding blogs up to what is an artificial standard – how many other outlets might make mistakes regarding rumors and the news, esp. given the pressure on them to deliver info in real-time – is absolutely a product of jealousy.

  • http://www.thedigitaledgeblog.com John

    Thanks for the thoughtful comment. Even given the enormous influence they have today, I would not want to have to navigate the next few years as a large, traditional media shop.

    -john