“Is there a “blog of record” that I can really trust? One where, having read one story about a matter, I can trust that the facts I now think I know are facts indeed?”…
No. And there won’t be.
By the way, I don’t trust what I read in the mass media, so why would I trust what anyone writes on their blog?
A good media consumer is skeptical.
But, here’s how to figure out the truth on blogs: read a group of them that cover the story from different angles.
For instance, you know I’m biased, right?
So, you can’t trust what I write. But, if you read Slashdot, and you read Jeremy Zawodny over at Yahoo, and you read Asa Dotzler on the Firefox team and you read a bunch of other blogs, you’ll be able to triangulate in on the truth.
Why is that? I can’t control what they all say. So, even though I might go nutso here, you’ll be able to triangulate in on the truth.
Who is the editor? You are. I am. The word-of-mouth network is so efficient that if bloggers don’t watch their brands they’ll lose readership, respect, and, worse of all, if liars try to show up at conferences they will get called out and derided. And, I like going to conferences and having people be friendly to me.
But, yes, I totally expect to see a blogger sued for libel at some point.
Ian Landsman, responds to an earlier post of mine about blogs hurting your chances of getting hired: “Um maybe it’s just me but isn’t that the beauty of blogs? Isn’t that what makes them so powerful? That there isn’t a committee that goes over every word of my post figuring out what is “proper” and what is “correct”?”
Max Hansen: If Blogging Isn’t Journalism, It Will Be
Robert Scoble is the founder of the Scobleizer blog. He works as PodTech.net’s Vice President of Media Development.
Go to Scobleizer …
