Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Standup PhilosopherOct 1st 2009 2:38AM

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Anyone else think it ironic that criticism of the accuracy of blog journalism in the blogosphere, citing the specific example of a Huffington Post article, is coming from WITHIN the blogosphere? I think it's doubly amusing that this criticism is coming from what is essentially an entertainment blog, making it the internet equivalent of, say, Showbiz Tonight criticizing 60 Minutes.

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(Unverified)Oct 1st 2009 2:55AM

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We're not an entertainment blog, although I'm flattered that you find us entertaining. We cover the digital lifestyle -- lifestreaming, blogging, software, downloads, web apps, operating systems, casual games and a healthy dose of op-ed from a really talented team of writers all over the world. Blogs vs. Journalism is a pretty valid topic, especially when it involves spreading via Twitter and YouTube.

And for the record; I'm a blogger, not a journalist. I have a ton of respect for journalists, and I also have a degree in English. Neither of those two things makes me qualified to take a fully neutral PoV, and I don't claim to.

In this case? My bias is toward blogs getting things right. Especially when they're easy things to get right. Secreting the video away in the middle of the night and never mentioning it again is what you did to a pregnant teenager in the 1950s, not what you do to a faked YouTube video that caught you off guard and which you never bothered to check out.

This kind of thing, you get out in front of. You say:

"Oops, that was rubbish. Sorry. Joe here is kinda new, and his editor didn't look at it. Joe and his editor are being retrained and we promise to redouble our efforts to check out random internet video before we call it something it isn't. We owe you a little better than that, and we *are* better than that. Thanks for reading."

See, that's the end of something like this. You don't regain credibility by hiding mistakes, you regain credibility by openly admitting your mistakes, correcting them, and then correcting any methods or processes which made the mistake possible.

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Standup PhilosopherOct 1st 2009 5:17AM

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Grant,

I'm not disagreeing with anything in your reply. As a fellow blogger (and English degree holder), I believe that news blogs should maintain the same level of accuracy, accountability and ethics as "traditional media." They are providing news to the populace, after all.

The point of my previous comment was simply to point out the ironly of a blog like Download Squad criticizing the Huffington Post for factual inaccuracies and not necessarily get into the bigger issue of journaistic ethics and procedure.

When I referred to Download Squad as "essentially an entertainment blog," I only meant that, relative to a venerable news blog like the Huffington Post, you are. But so is every other non-news blog in my opinion, since I'm a hopeless news junkie. Ironically, though, I stick with the New York Times and MSNBC, but do not read the Huffington Post.

I enjoy your blog and pop in on a daily basis. It cycles in and out of Chromium's top 8. Keep up the good work.

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Standup PhilosopherOct 1st 2009 5:21AM

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And sorry about the typos. 'AutoCheck Spelling' in Gedit apparently doesn't stay enabled when you open a new tab.

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