Blogs

Time For A Blogging "Reality Check?"

By Vaughn Ververs

April 28, 2006 / 10:49 AM EDT / CBS News

(AP / CBS)

MarketWatch columnist Jon Friedman disagrees with the idea that bloggers are suddenly important. CJR Daily's Liz Cox Barrett wrote earlier this week that one of the first tests for Tony Snow as the new White House press secretary, will be to satisfy bloggers. Friedman responds:

Obviously, bloggers can do a lot of important work -- ask Dan Rather, who lost his job as anchor of "The CBS Evening News" not long after bloggers exposed the deep flaws in a CBS broadcast about President Bush's National Guard record.
But if any people think that bloggers have become a more dominant media force than television or -- dare I say it -- print, they really need a reality check.
Sorry, folks. Whether you like it or not, the much-criticized, heavily-flawed Mainstream Media still rules.

And, just in case you're not sure what Friedman's point is, here's his media Web question of the day: "Is it just me, or do you also find that a lot of bloggers are a little too self-important for their own good?"

Meanwhile, Washington Post media writer Howard Kurtz is much kinder to bloggers in his Media Notes column today but signals he too may be tiring of the trend:

I write again today about blogging because I believe it has become the most vibrant, innovative and controversial form of information delivery in the media world today.
Also, I was stuck for a column.

It ain't easy being a blogger these days.