Dave Welsh's WebLog : If it bleeds, it leads -- "We the Media" by Dan Gillmor

Sunday, September 12, 2004 4:56 PM by Dave Welsh

If it bleeds, it leads -- "We the Media" by Dan Gillmor

I've been looking around at some of the available books on blogging. I bought an O'Reilly book which really didn't tell me much about blogging. Right now I'm reading "We the Media - grassroots journalism by the poeple for the people" by Dan Gillmor and so far it's a great read.

Dan's book admits to being an American centric view on journalism, but Dan's main focus inthe book is about what happens when people at the edge participate in the news gathering and dissemination process; as opposed to the regular 'consumers of news'.

Dan does a nice job of filling in some of his early history around Wiki's, SMS messaging (which my kids in Europe are hooked on), and how blogging is helping people "roll your own news" by going after transforming the web from read-only into read/write.

The companion site that goes with the book is http://wethemedia.oreilly.com/ and so far I'd recommend the book.

It was interesting (and a little worrying) to read during the recent Athens Olympics that the IOC had problems with atheletes blogging while at the games. So here's a thought from Dan's book. Is blogging really a form of Open Sourcing the news, once the exclusive domain of professional journalists?

Think about it, and enjoy the book if you get it.

Filed under: myblog

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# re: If it bleeds, it leads -- "We the Media" by Dan Gillmor

Monday, September 13, 2004 7:35 AM by Will Sullivan

The whole forged memo scandal going on right now is also a great example of how the unified conglomerate that we know as 'The News' is bloated and rotting in comparison to the blogosphere. We have major news outlets who are almost all in line with each other on one side, and a majority of individual blogs and their readers on the other. Whereas the major media restricts information on the subject (sources are not revealed, experts consulted are told to gag it, original documents kept sealed away in some penthouse office), the blogosphere is lousy with it. Experts are consulted and their opinions posted (along with their names, contact information and qualifications), sampes and examples and flash movies of comparisons are everywhere. And, possibly even more important, the vetting process is right in the open. Dissenters can post their reactions immediately, and responses can be posted right after. Readers can review them both and make an informed judgement as to who is making more sense. No longer is God's word delivered from the mountain by Moses. It arises from the people through inspiration and personal witness. And lemme tell you, Moses is pissed.

# re: If it bleeds, it leads -- "We the Media" by Dan Gillmor

Monday, September 13, 2004 12:43 PM by Dave Welsh

Today in Forbes (http://www.forbes.com/columnists/2004/09/13/cz_sm_0913mcgookin.html?partner=yahoo&referrer=) there is a nice piece talking about Dan Gillmor's book.

A couple of quotes from Forbes

"But Gillmor has a serious point. By drawing a direct line through various innovations in communications technology, from early printing presses to audio and video blogging, he illustrates how the evolving nature of information distribution necessarily changes the relationship between those who produce the news and those who consume it."

"Of course, blogs are not the only way in which the Web breaks down the mass audience into mutually exclusive fragments. Consider the implications of Amazon.com's (nasdaq: AMZN - news - people ) new political commentary section, which features short interviews with political pundits and--of course--links to their books."

I used to work at Amazon.com, way back inthe early days (I set up their first EDI/B2B department and worked some really bright young people then) and what Amazon is doing is typical 'push the envelope' and focus on the customer experience.

</disclaimer> I didn't get this news from the Forbes blog, but off the Forbes web page ... but I still enjoyed the content :-)

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If it bleeds, it leads -- "We the Media" by Dan Gillmor

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# re: If it bleeds, it leads -- "We the Media" by Dan Gillmor

# re: If it bleeds, it leads -- "We the Media" by Dan Gillmor