Bloggers

Post 13:


*NOTE*
A letter to the editor from myself to the Other Paper was published last Thursday, when I am able to get a copy to scan it in I will post if for you guys. It dealt with Anonymous (more specifically, their protest in Downtown Columbus the other day) and this post, that is, my post on fellow bloggers.
*END OF NOTE*


I read several blogs, from Carnival Of Ohio Politics to Glass City Jungle to CNNs blog to several non-political orriented ones like Endgadget and Crave. I read them, comment on them, and argue on them. Yeah, I am that sort of person. One thing that has always driven me crazy are how the blogs work, and how people seem to think that they are credible sources of news. NEWSFLASH, I support Clinton and McCain, I will be biased, though I will attempt to hit all sides, deal with it, and look at pro-Obama blogs to get a middle ground. Really, that is what we all need to do, watch Fox and MSNBC, read my blog and read an Obamaites blog; one should always get both sides of a story as the truth is usually dead in the middle.

Some blogs can be intertaining, some can be informative, and some can be stunning, they often exist for one basic reason. That is, most blogs exist to share one viewpoint (often biased) to the world, mainly, to those who already agree with their viewpoints. They exist for the same reason as Myspace users and Youtubers. Really, there are three main reasons that bloggers really bug me: They are narcisistic and self-important - They claim to be great sources of news - They are clearly Biased (and yes, I know that I am biased).
Bloggers: What Really Grinds My Gigantic Notched Wheels

They are narcisitic and self-important:
The world is full of people that would be willing to kiss their own image on a frozen mirror, even when they know that their tounge will freeze upon it and they will starve to death. People from Paris Hilton to Karl Rove to Parez Hilton to Michael Moore. These people love themselves, think they are all that matters, and think that the world revolves around them. Most bloggers are like that, we only care about certain things and think that that is all the world cares about. Me, I think that if you do not care about politics (I do not care which side of politics you are on) or science you are worthless. Most bloggers do the same thing. Really, it seems as though blogs exist solely to make us feel important. We make claims as to viewership, locations (hey, do you guys remember the map I posted, well, it is much fuller now), and links. It now seems as though blogs have become the definition of how popular you are, the jocks are mentioned on big sites and are viewed hundreds of times a day. The geeks (which, oddly, does fit me many different ways) are mentioned on the jock sites occasionally (usually as a pitty) and get ten hits or so a day. Holy shit, Blogs are the new high schools.

They claim to be great sources of news:
Newspapers are one of the last great sources of news that are left. Television news are held hostage to their sponsers, the internet news is often owned by the same cable news companies, radio, well, there is no radio news anymore (for the most part). Blogs have started to be argued as one of the great new sources of news. When Dan Rathers spoke about a Millitary document regarding Bush not serving the right wing bloggers attacked in mass, and showed the rreport to be false. Yes, blogs do assist in gathering news and sometimes break the news first (like those that broke the Dann story). However, Blogs should not be used as news sources. Often blogs do not have first hand sources that ARE CREDIBLE (and no, the poster is never a credible source, as they are often very very biased in their wording). Furthermore, they do not have accsess to the research tools that things like The Columbus Dispatch and the New York Times have. Lastly, blogs do not have journalistic integrity to maintain. When your news source is able to outright lie (lack the integrity) it is time to get a new source.

They are clearly Biased (and yes, I know that I am biased):
I support Clinton and then McCain. I am a moderate Democrat. I am pro-choice, pro-drug, pro-Constitution, pro-Civil-Liberties. I am (as you can see on the political compass on the side of this blog) a libertarian leaning lefist (slight). I am biased, deal with it. That said, this is also one of my biggest issues with bloggers. When I read a political blog I expect to see posts that for the most part help one side; however, I also expect to see the occasional post that helps the other side. Your pro McCain, well, I expect to see pleanty that support the Mac yet some that occasionally point out where Obama is better (like the Oil Tax issue). That said, we should expect a level of bias on any site, blog or not. However, with blogs, it is to the point of absurdidy. I do not want to read a blog that claims Obama is satan in every post, EVEN IF IT WERE PROVED TO BE TRUE. Really, I am only saying, lets keep the bias to a minimum in these things, as that lets us get more readers.




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Thanks,
Barga,
Editor of http://whalertly.blogspot.com/
barga.24@osu.edu