Will Leitch’s appearance on CostasNOW created controversy when a freshly steamed Buzz Bissinger lunged unprovoked into a vicious profanity laced tirade worthy of a Lewis Black riff. Here is my take on the issue as both a blogger and journalism student.
My first point has been made, but can never be rehashed enough. Blogs are not a bully beating the defenseless newspaper industry into submission with a sordid Max Mosley smile. Newspapers are the victims of their own bad business model built on expectations of irrational profit levels. Rather than adjust to a world where classified advertising and subscriptions are not nearly as lucrative, they have instead slashed operating costs–cheapening the content that they once provided.
Though admittedly critical of certain columnists, blogs are not antithetical to the newspaper industry. If anything, sites like Deadspin and The Big Lead actually aid newspapers by driving an inordinate amount of traffic to newspaper websites through their links. The Internet, as seen with ESPN.com, can even enhance journalistic creativity by allowing unique talents, like a Bill Simmons, a free forum for expression freed from style and space concerns.
Newspapers have the advantage of reporting, and reputable, often read blogs defer to those sources for original reporting. The problem, however, is that many traditional journalists believe that this monopoly should be extended to opinion, on the basis that they have the proper credentials and they know better. This is lunacy. The point of having a free press is to inform the public and to facilitate public discourse, not employ privilege as a means to monopolize it.
We live in a democratic society. Everyone, even the person ranting in their underwear from their mother’s basement, has a right to an opinion and to express it. The opinion might be stupid, but that is for the audience to decipher, not the competition.
The most misguided criticism of Leitch regarded the pictures of Matt Leinart. Leitch linked to pictures on another website of Leinart partying with some college co-eds at his house. Perhaps Costas and Bissinger have a point that this is shoddy journalism, but it is not one only practiced by blogs. There is a specific term that the two neglect to mention for this type of work, tabloid journalism. It is called tabloid journalism because it is the type employed by print media in tabloids. To criticize blogs for “digging through garbage” when there are print “journalists” literally doing it is absurd.
What the debate really comes down to is whether journalism should be considered a profession or an art. Many journalists see it as a profession and claim proper education and credentials, but there is no such thing for a journalist. One does not attend journalism school the way one attends medical or law school. There is, for good reason, no government license to practice journalism. Some of the best, such as Susan Orlean, never went to school for journalism.
Journalism at its basis is writing, and writing, even when done professionally, is an art form. Just as anyone can write a novel, anyone can paint a picture and anyone can make music, any individual can write a story. The market and tastes of the audience determine success and popularity. Some people want high-minded word craftsmanship, some want well-executed dick and fart jokes and most want the opportunity to choose at their leisure. Blogging is a medium, not a revolution in ideas. Great writing will thrive,
