Times Watch.

Scott Burgess catches The Guardian in a piece of quite exceptional nonsense.

He also notes The Times’ leader on blogs and journalism.

The paradox of the internet is that good
journalism matters more than ever. Without it we as a society will
reach the wrong conclusions about important questions. And with so much
conflicting information flying around, the chances of making the wrong
judgment are increased. But good journalism, as opposed to citizen
journalism, does not just happen. It requires substantial investment. The Times
has more foreign correspondents in the field than any other British
national paper, helping to sift fact from rumour, bias and innuendo.
More than ever, consumers of information need to be aware of the
different types that are fighting for their attention. To amend C. P.
Scott, comment is free, but facts are expensive.

Absolutely, bloody right, let the bloggers into the house and who knows what will happen? After all, only the main newspapers have the capital and experience to be able, just as an example, properly proof-read their output.

But bloggers can also be clumsy creatures. Many
are unsophisticated, prejudiced, conspiracy-obsessed, hyperinflated and
plain wrong. How do you, as a brow-ser, know what you are getting?

Ahem.

brow-ser

Robbie?

4 responses

  1. Chris harper Avatar
    Chris harper

    What he is saying is correct, but the MSN has to face up to a major problem.
    It doesn’t matter how much research a journalist does on a topic, there will always be a blogger out there who lives, eats and breaths the subject matter the journalist is pontificating about. There will always be bloggers who are professionals on the topic, some of whom will also be competent writers.
    If a journalist makes a mistake it WILL be picked up, and, if interesting enough, will be spread around the blogosphere within hours.
    Journalists will, from now on, have to be good.

  2. Chris harper Avatar
    Chris harper

    What he is saying is correct, but the MSN has to face up to a major problem.
    It doesn’t matter how much research a journalist does on a topic, there will always be a blogger out there who lives, eats and breaths the subject matter the journalist is pontificating about. There will always be bloggers who are professionals on the topic, some of whom will also be competent writers.
    If a journalist makes a mistake it WILL be picked up, and, if interesting enough, will be spread around the blogosphere within hours.
    Journalists will, from now on, have to be good.

  3. I am always, always, overwhelmed by the wisdom of the leaders in The Times. Who could disagree with such collective sagacity? I say that as someone who is in no ways guilty of committing leader-writing.
    Brows-er was browser in the dead tree version; alas, tecchie glitch of boring dimensions made it less than right in online. All must be spanked

  4. The Times are threatened and are running scared.

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