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Newspapers and blogs can be friends – Huffington
The newspaper industry may be going up in flames, but the high priestess of news blogs sees a harmonious future in store between print hacks and Web denizens. Fresh from hiring Newsweek contributing editor Melinda Henneberger and senior BBC journalist Elinor Shields as editors for the Huffington Post, founder Arianna Huffington tells Reuters the future of news is ripe for cross-fertilization between the mediums and their respective writing styles.She also tipped us off to the Huffington Post’s efforts to host an Internet debate between U.S. presidential hopefuls for the 2008 race. Democratic Sen. Chris Dodd had barely declared his candidacy before an invitation was sent to his office. Someone should tell Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama to refresh their avatars. Here are some quotes:Reuters: Do you see the blogosphere absorbing more print journalists as the newspaper industry cuts jobs?Huffington: First of all, I don’t think this is print versus online. I think for the foreseeable future there will be both print and online (formats). I see that online is a huge opportunity which I think print publications will take more and more advantage of to bring in the great elements online journalism — immediacy, intimacy, a clear point of view — without in any way sacrificing any of the fundamental elements of good journalism. … So it’s really the integration of the best of both worlds.Reuters: Political blogs rose to prominence during the 2004 U.S. elections. What role do you see them playing in 2008?Huffington: 2008 is going to be critical in terms of the coverage of the election. We are working to put together the first primary online debate among candidates and working out the logistics of how this is going to happen … and working on ways to cover the campaign, including dedicated reporters and citizen journalists, where you have dedicated reporters, people who are passionate about a particular campaign and also people close to the campaign (involved). So you can have all those different points of view. We try and look at the coverage of news less from what we believe is this obsolete left/right filter. … It’s just another way online coverage can get away from this knee-jerk, automatic way that mainstream media is covering news. It doesn’t make any sense to look at people’s positions about the war in Iraq in terms of left (versus) right. It makes it much harder to look at the reality of what is happening and how people get to their conclusion. It’s also affecting the coverage in very substantive ways.(Photo: Reuters / Huffington at Harvard in 2005)
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The Wall
The Bloggs for both the bloggers and the print hacks are like fusion music is to pop-jazz-world beat musicians. The potential for near instant news and the ability to respond is a real advance for humanity. Keep on blogging!
I just want real,no bulls*%# answers to tough questions!From everone!I dont want to hear liberals say”We did this/we should do that,during the 90’s”again.Unless you can replicate the mania that engulfed the world{the internet bubble}and its no rules required,your on your own if you get caught mentality,it’s not logical!Two days after the election,Robert Rubin{skinny rock star ex treasury secratary}comes out and says we should raise taxes right now,the economy can take it.That kind of thinking scares the be-jesus out of me.
A concerned conservative,
G.S.Jr
I like the analogy of the 1st response by Phillip Crist; well put and I agree. As far as the other end of it, I still enjoy a newspaper spread out on my kitchen table sipping coffee on a Sunday morning.
As the owner/operator of my own local internet newspaper for four years now, I definately agree this format is here to stay. We are able to post news almost instantaneously on a very local level which is sometimes the hardest nut to crack. Due to low level local politics the flow of information was almost non existent. Since almost no one has the time or inclination to attend a council meeting, we at pascackpeople attend it for them, digitally record the meeting and post the nonsense the same night on our sight for all to hear. Hooray for transparent government – FINALLY!
The fusion of those of us with printer’s ink in our blood, infomaniac brains and fast fingers is more like an evolution. There is a difference between reading your Sunday paper with a hot cup of coffee and news at 5 Ghz. Different audiences. The comparision is, as Arianna pointed out, not one of competition or survival, as both are totally different mediums. The threat is to corporate journalism from those of us who are beyond control. How do the advertisers reach the online or e-journalist who writes at 3am in their pajamas and bunny slippers, with no deadline and no boss?
I think Huffington makes some really strong points above. Historically, the UK’s foreign policies have really depended very little in whether the left or right has been in power. Leaders, by and large, have done what they thought best for the UK. Often they have been proven wrong. But I think that the press here does realise that. We/they know that both sides of the Commons were disastrously hawkish over Iraq. Perhaps it’s different in the US, and the war is treated by portions of the press as a partisan issue in an unhelpful way – in fact, having just spent a week there, I’m sure it is. But would abandoning “this obsolete left/right filter” absolutely, actually mean addressing politics though a maze of single issues lobby groups? Would that be useful?
E-Democracy.Org hosted model online candidate debates among Gubernatorial candidates in Minnesota in 2006:
http://e-democracy.org/e-debates
The day before this report we happened to announce that our proposals for a non-partisan hosted US Presidential E-Debate made it to round two of the Knight Foundation’s NewsChallenge. We invite others to join us in making this a signature online event.
Key for a successful e-debate (we’ve been doing them since 1994) is a compelling network that motivates substantial candidate participation. We are certain that there will be many different models for exchange with presidential candidates just as there are in-person at various debates and forums. We invite you to participate and explore our model: http://e-democracy.org/blog/posts/73
Steven Clift
E-Democracy.Org
Blogging will help keep the print media honest. Blogging is just another source of information with immediate feedback being available. That being said there will always be something special about sitting back and digesting the Sunday paper during the week that will never fade away.