Mark Cuban breaks down the difference between traditional/corporate media and blogs. There are a number of great quotes in the post, but here is one:
Bloggers drive blogs, share price drives traditional media. Blogging is personal, traditional media is corporate.Mark's post offers more depth to the issues I blogged about earlier this week, specifically the perception of blogs within traditional media. I see this just about every time I deal with a newspaper client. In some cases the reporters want to do something different, but they're held back by policy or other issues. In other cases the reporters turn their nose at blogs.Which is exactly why blog readership is going up, while traditional media is consolidating, if not contracting. Traditional media goes to work, bloggers live their work.
As Mark says, bloggers are not confined to a single role. We can report, opine, question, joke, switch subjects and take a few days off. Reporters often don't have that freedom and flexibility. The next few years will see some interesting changes. Good and bad things always happen when business models are changed drastically.
Will the blog bubble burst? Perhaps, but not in an economic way. Most likely in a hype way. Most bloggers don't do it for money, they do it for 100 other reasons, so an economic bust won't stop them.
Visitor Comments
I definately agree with your post. In my opinion, blogs are a reality check for traditional media in the sense that their use is declining. More and more people, especially my generation refer to online mediums first rather than a newspaper.
So as bloggers illustrate their flexibility, traditional mediums must adapt to maintain popularity or blogs will rise to the top.
In addition, I am glad that you point out the fact that not many bloggers blog for money. Everytime I see a blog that is trying to make money or being used to market a product, I feel a little uneasy. I enjoy reading blogs that are made for the sole purpose of writing.
Great thoughts! Take care
-Chris
Posted by: Christopher Salazar | May 13, 2006 6:57 PM
Josh,
You've been on a great series of posts in an area where I feel great passion. Please keep it up. Personally, I think there is a great deal of blog mania, but it does not represent a bubbl. It is mre like the mania that surrounded the early internet, email, Ethernet, railroad trains and probably fire. When the hysteria ends, there are no slithery post-bubble globs laying on the floor, but there is something that has changed the world in a significant way.
Posted by: Shel Israel | May 14, 2006 8:30 PM
I think what's going on with news content right now is fascinating.
In a pop-culture obsessed society, the news media has bent over and changed what is considered news in effort to stop the hemorrage of declining revenue. What's interesting is that people actually miss the actual news content and are, therefore, turning to more serious sources online, through blogs, etc.
Traditional media has taken note of this and is beginning to adapt. Blogs are (and will continue to) influence how news is delivered in the future.
Posted by: Jen | May 14, 2006 11:50 PM