Jarvis vs Keller: In defense of blogs
This is going to keep running for a while and it looks like Jeff Jarvis has the powers of citation in his corner in his online fight against the New York Times’ Bill Keller.
Jarvis: In a speech in London for the Guardian, New York Times executive editor Bill Keller says this about bloggers and this blogger in particular:
“My friend Jeff Jarvis, a blogger of long-standing and
professor of journalism at the City University of New York, refers to
news bloggers as “citizen journalists”, which has a sweet, idealistic
ring to it. Jeff, like many of the most ardent true believers in the
blog revolution, suggests that the mainstream media can be largely
replaced by a self-regulating democracy of voices, the wisdom of the
crowd.“Jarvis: First, I have never said that the crowd of bloggers would replace
mainstream media and professional journalism. That’s a red herring that
is too often attributed presumptively to bloggers and their advocates.
It’s never properly cited because it can’t be. Where’s the link to the
quote with me saying that? It’s fiction. I don’t say that. I don’t
believe that. Jay Rosen shot that fish in the barrel a year and a half ago when he responded to hearing it again from Keller’s deputy Jon Landman:
“Jay Rosen says that no one is saying that news will be
decided by poll. Nobody is saying that we don’t need reporters. Nobody
is saying that you should stop reporting and just listen. But these
things are being said: The audience knows a lot of stuff and if you
don’t tap that knowledge you’re not keeping up with your craft. And
journalism has become interactive and if you’re not interacting, you’re
not keeping up with your craft. And, he says, trust isn’t made the way
it was; the trust transaction is different.
Jarvis: So can we please can that talk and stop accusing bloggers of wishing to eliminate journalists?
Sure, Jarvis can lay it on thick about blogs from time to time, a blog hasn’t cured cancer yet I don’t think, but Keller’s barking up the wrong tree here in a big way. He’s coming off just the way the NUJ did in October when they put the boot in the new media practices alleged and assumed.
Not promising from the executive editor of the USA’s paper of record.
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Posted by: ds