Blogs, Journalism and Buzz

I am getting really tired of blogs. They're the new black. Or chocolate. Or the Rosetta Stone. Suddenly no one is a journalist anymore. We're all supposed to be bloggers. On the same page as a kid chronicling her oh-so-ordinary 15 year old life on MySpace. Well count me out.

"Blog" to me is just another buzzword. And the media world has gone crazy over the buzz because 50-something executives think this is the way to get 20-somethings to watch TV news and read newspapers. And if you can put three words together you can blog and your thoughts and opinions are just as valuable as the knowledge and research and talent of a reporter or columnist with 30 years of writing experience. And why do the media companies care so much about blogs and bloggers? Because media companies survive on advertising and the ad agencies (largely staffed these days by 20-somethings) are convinced no one over 35 ever tries any new product. Never mind that baby boomers (now hitting 60 in ever fatter waves) have all the money and all the curiosity and have always tried every new thing that ever came along. Nope. Old is old is dead.

Thus the blogs -- and the media companies' year(s) of magical thinking.

I do journalism (or what these days passes for journalism) for a living. And I think blogs are just another way to add to our workload. When you are researching a story and need as much material as you can find, the better blogs which are written by people with specialized insight and knowledge can be useful. And the story behind the story can be fascinating. But a lot of blogging is more like "dear diary". I really don't care about someone whom I don't know and don't want to know baring all --- every moment of life, every hour-by-hour experience. Not at 15, not at 50. Nor do I care about that someone's preferences in food or last night's blind date. Y'know??? When you're working hard and hitting 24/7 deadlines that didn't exist a few years back and trying to hit those deadlines with a well-researched, accurate story -- you really don't have time to read the blogs, never mind write them ---UNLESS you have something really important to say.

There is something to be said for the old gatekeeper method of making editorial decisions. Decisions based on an understanding of what everyday working folks need to know to run their lives and vote intelligently enough to keep the country running properly. Everyone who can type out a blog is NOT qualified to be a journalist!!! I almost feel politically incorrect saying all this. But the Internet can be a terrible time waster unless you are searching for specific information and know how to find it. With all those YouTube and MySpace videos and blogs and the 1000 new best friends this all generates -- when do the denizens of these online communities have time for studying, working or - God forbid - actually interacting with real people in the real world? You know -- something beyond text messages and IM 's. I know people who work in next-to-each-other cubicles --- who email and text and never think of standing up and just talking over the divider.

So get a life, you bloggers. A real, not a virtual life. Walk outside, say hello to the guy behind the fruit stand. Look -- really look at your office mate. Maybe you both can take your sandwiches outdoors for the five minutes that passes for lunch these days and talk about the Red Sox (OK -- I'm from Boston. Forever.)

And maybe the next time you think everyone on the Internet really needs to know what you think about life, liberty and the pursuit of the American dream -- you'll skip the blog and have a discussion with someone. Real voices. Real arguments. Real interaction. And leave the journalism to the people trained to ask the questions and get the answers. The accurate answers.