DFO: Blogs Are Future of Newspapers

For DFO’s complete Sunday column, click here

I’m amused by media pundits and opinion makers who emerge from their ivory towers occasionally to condemn bloggers. They harrumph: They’re amateurs. They have no checks and balances. Their audience is small. They’ll go away as the fad fades. Many otherwise intelligent newspaper editors and commenters view blogs the same way as crusty Andy Rooney. In 2005, when asked about the CBS Public Eye blog and its policy of transparency, Rooney spouted: “I have never read the CBS Public Eye blog so I have no opinion. I’m trying to find out what blog means. It seems vastly overrated as a communications tool.” For Rooney and other cave dwellers, a blog is a World Wide Web log – you know, like the journal kept by Captain James Kirk aboard the starship Enterprise in the old “Star Trek” series. For some, a blog is a diary. For others, it’s a means to comment on politics, religion and the news. For me, it’s an opportunity to have my own publication online and build a community of regional bloggers, commenters and “blurkers” (blog term for individuals who read but don’t post) — D.F. Oliveria/Spokesman-Review.

DFO: I received two calls about this column — one from an Old Fart who agreed, the other from an Old Fart who disagreed and was glad I was spending more time online so he didn’t have to read my nonsense in the paper.

Question: Your reaction?