Way back when, before my cable company found out that my family was getting HBO for free, I would never miss an episode of Real Time with Bill Maher. Now I’m not saying I agree with Maher’s ultra-leftist ideology, I just find his show entertaining and I respect how he’s willing to speak his mind about anything. I found out who Andrew Sullivan was because of his frequent appearances on Real Time, and before I ever read his blog I respected him because of his thoughtful rationale on current events. Sullivan, whenever he would be a guest on Real Time, would be the moderate voice of clarity who (in my opinion) consistently appeared more intelligent than Maher or whatever token conservative was on the show that week. After seeing him on HBO repeatedly I googled his blog and was very impressed with his writing. So when I saw the name Andrew Sullivan on the tentative schedule of assignments handed out on the first day I was excited initially for two reasons: one, I respect Sullivan’s opinions and the issue of blogging vs. traditional journalism is interesting to me; and two, I was willing to bet that I was the only student in the class who had ever heard of Andrew Sullivan before. But who knows, maybe I was wrong about the second part.
To me, Andrew Sullivan represents everything positive about blogging. He is an immensely talented writer who uses the internet to connect to readers in free and instantaneous fashion. There is even speculation that President Obama is a dedicated reader. Sullivan says he blogs because it’s a more exhilarating, personal form of journalism. He expresses how blogging is not taking the place of more traditional journalism instead it’s adding to it. He also talks about how blogging is relatively unfettered compared to other forms of journalistic writing. All in all, he explains why blogging is good. And, all in all, I agree with him.
When blogging is utilized by someone such as Sullivan, it is a great means of communication between writer and reader. Unfortunately, most bloggers are not Andrew Sullivan. One of the things that makes blogging great is the fact that it is inherently populist. To post a blog, one does not need press credentials or a degree in journalism. Unfortunately, that’s the downside to blogging as well. There are many great writers on the web who use blogging as their method of writing, as Sullivan points out. There are also many less-than-great writers who ultimately clog up the blogosphere. This overload of blogging unfortunately somewhat drowns out quality discourse put forth by writers such as Sullivan. That being said, I do consider blogging done well to be an effective and legitimate form of journalism.
(When I finished typing this I realized I went way over the word count, sorry.)
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No need to apologize on the word count, Allan. I set 250 words as the minimum. There is no set maximum, but let's put a ceiling of, oh, 2,500 words. You've plenty of headroom here.
ReplyDeleteThis is a thoughtful response in summarizing Sullivan's writing and considering his place within the wider world of journalism. A couple of quotes would have added some nice details to support your reading. I'm glad you appreciate Sullivan's work. I like that he is not too easy to categorize.
Good observation of how the blogosphere gives many writers a chance to get their work out to the world, yet it is also clogged by many less-than-great writers. It seems as if the beauty of blogging also has a somewhat ugly side to it.
ReplyDeleteI agree with what you and Jeff said. The fact that anyone, anywhere can blog is a great opportunity for the every-day person to get his/her work out there. In my opinion, there is a sense of freedom that comes with blogging. When people have the resources to write whatever they want to an unlimited audience, they have a freedom of expression that has't been available until the dawn of the 'age of tachnology'. At the same time this easily accessible resource is flooded with (to use Jeff's words) less-than-great writers, and exceptional writers often get thrown to the wayside in the mayhem.
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