cart & buggy
Lately I find the real distinction between old and new media most obvious when comparing blogs to op/ed columns. Really, I enjoy Ross Douthat’s blog at the New York Times so much more than his weekly column there. I imagine it’s also a lot more fun to write a blog than a weekly column as well. Ross seems to have more fun on the blog.
Blogs are more visceral, more immediate, and more personal. Columns feel stiff and confined – no matter who’s writing them. Blogs may not be able to imitate narrative journalism. They may not be able to capture the breadth or depth of a good long-form piece, or the hard data and real reporting of actual news stories. But one thing they can do is make the traditional op/ed column seem awfully archaic.
Of course, blogs can’t be replicated in print. So as long as dead-tree papers are with us, we’ll have the column too. All I know is that I wouldn’t mourn the column’s passing the way I would mourn the death of long-form narrative journalism. There can be strength in limits, of course. 800 words can make what would otherwise be a long and rambling piece into something tight and concise. But you can do it even better with a blog.
Word.Report
Finally some love.Report
From the introduction to Common Sense:
From printed pamphlets to blogs, the act of challenging credibility and truth thrives.Report
Completely agree. Someone like Yglesias writes 10-15 posts a week that are better (more informative, insightful and provocative) than 90-95% of the columns out there, and Douthat is much, much better in that medium also. Writing a column must be like trying to give a 10 minute speech in 3 minutes to a hostile audience; important nuance has to be left out, and whatever you say, it will be misinterpreted. When you’re blogging, you have more space and the ability to respond to criticisms, and/or update the post.Report
Additionally, observers do learn (whether or not they should, of course) from the comments.
When an author writes an essay talking about the moral necessity of… I dunno… carpooling and the comments have a question, people reading the comments will get one idea when they see the author respond with a vigorous personal attack on people who want to set the planet aflame with their nigh-empty cars. They get another when they see the author discuss the pros and cons of the two or three potential answers to the question the commenter asked.
Comments allow so very many more messages to be sent.Report
I don’t know about Yglesias – most of the posts on his blog seems to be boilerplate liberalism – it’s more an activism blog than a policy one. But this blog, and James Fallows’, and Ta-Nehisi’s over at The Atlantic, definitely fit that description.Report
I posted on a similar topic at http://www.thefourthbranch.com/?p=128. Let me know your thoughts. While there is much to be said for the blogosphere, I think the traditional column has a lot to offer as well.Report