Mainstream Offers Inaccurate, Silly Opinion On Blogs

Blogging 144 Comments

An article on political blogs that manages not only to avoid meaningful content, it offers up a host of incorrect assumptions;

But for all the political blogs that can be found on the Net, it remains hard to pinpoint with any certainty their impact on voters.
Recent voting patterns indicate turnout among younger Canadians is low and dropping.

How long have we had the “interweb” now? In how many homes? Why does mainstream media continue to stereotype political bloggers and our readers as “tech savvy” twenty year olds?
Here’s a comment that appeared here at SDA a couple of days ago;

Typical CBC leading off with poll showing the Liberals ahead. For the duration, that is the last time I watch any news. I’ll get all my updates on this blog so keep up the good work with your posts. At 77, I have to watch the old b.p.

A surprisingly high number of the visitors to SDA are retired or nearing retirement age – and if the emails I receive privately are any indication, the typical reader here is male, and in their late thirties to early fifties. That’s certainly not the demographic one ordinarily thinks of as the “tech savvy younger generation”.
It’s a misconception held not only by many in media, but by those in political circles, and it results in idiotic prattlings like this by writers dropped into the blogosphere who have no clue what they’re doing, or who their audience really is.

But just because it’s an Internet-savvy generation doesn’t mean blogging is the answer to engaging disaffected voters, said Chris Waddell, a journalism professor at Carleton University who teaches web publishing.
“I’m not convinced anyone reads them other than a small group of insiders,” said Waddell.
“People are not coming home from work at night and deciding they have to read 10 or 12 blogs before dinner in the same way they may read the newspaper or sit down to watch the news.”

Emphasis mine. Who is this man and who’s allowing him to teach your children?
My traffic patterns indicate most people read blogs during the day, often at work (that’s supported by logfile data) with another surge in the early evening.

He adds some of the more effective blogs, especially in the United States, have reached mass audiences – but it’s because reporters from mainstream media pick up on a blog posting.

And there we have it, courtesy of the mainstream media, another “expert opinion” offered by someone who might have saved himself the professional embarrassment by simply admitting he doesn’t know much about the topic.
Blogging is a niche media. Very few political bloggers seek to be all things to all people, no more than most who write political columns in the mainstream media aim to do so. Single bloggers aren’t isolated entities competing with one another, but participants in an ever evolving, open source staff of opinion writers and information providers connected electronically.
One doesn’t compare the traffic of any individual poliblogger to the circulation figures of a city newspaper – the blogger is to the blogosphere what the polticial columnist or financial reporter is to the paper. The web user can pick and choose who he reads and doesn’t read in the same way I skip over columns or sections of the paper I’m not interested in.
But the most serious flaw in the article is that it assumes the transference of opinion and information is one way – from blogger to reader in the same “top down” fashion that mainstream journalism speaks to their consumers.
It’s really the other way around – as a blog develops traffic, the information flow reverses, as readers begin to inform other readers, with the blogger as interpreter and facilitator – functioning, as Hugh Hewitt described it, as an internet guide or “cyber sherpa”.
The impact of blogging on the poltiical landscape doesn’t happen here on these “pages” nor is it measured in my traffic. I don’t write to “sway disaffected voters”.
It occurs when the reader who visits SDA – who follows the links in posts and comments to an Auditor General’s report, to military bloggers in Iraq, who has viewed scanned letters issued from the Finance Department to Adscam players – sends a link to a friend in Nova Scotia, sits down at the table with family, at coffee break at the work place, and someone else raises a subject for discussion that has been framed in the mainstream – such as the war in Iraq, income trusts, Paul Martin’s involvement in Sponsorship. And that person, the blog reader, has information that no one else has heard.
(Update – the comments are confirming my estimate on typical age of SDA readers).

144 Replies to “Mainstream Offers Inaccurate, Silly Opinion On Blogs”

  3. Thanks folks – and to answer a couple of questions:
    1) The sitemeter shows average traffic at aroudn 4500 visits per day, but the actual server logs place it at around 8000 – 9000 visits a day. I’m not sure why the discrepency exists, but it’s been noticed by others, too.
    2) Yes, I just accepted my first ad. I held out for a long time.

  5. Hi Kate,
    57 MWM retired in Oakbank, MB just outside of Winnipeg. My first computer was an Apple IIc.
    ALL CBC programming was banned in this household about 5 years ago. We don’t watch TV news except for Fox.
    I subscribe to the Winnipeg Free Press (for local news) and to NP online and NRO online. I also read CNEWS online and several of the Sun columnists across the country.
    The WFP does a pretty good job with local news. They have some excellent conservative columnists but the overall slant is liberal-left. I don’t trust their political coverage.
    Actually, it was SDA that got me reading blogs when I retired in May. I read about 15 blogs daily, but SDA stands out as a top blog.
    This is a bit off-topic but I have also commented on PTBC and was thinking that Joel’s ‘Forum’ section could be a valuable ongoing resource for conservative ideas but was disappointed to find out today that it has been discontinued. Perhaps Joel can be persuaded to reactivate it.
    My wife is really ticked with you because I could do more around the house if I didn’t spend so much time reading blogs!

  7. Just last night I was reading the Langley Politics Blogg(cause I live in Langley) and I made a comment on the Lieberanos and referred to the Abotec Affair. Another reader asked “what is the Abotec Affair” I explianed it a little and sent him(her) off to the appropriate addy for all the info. And I’m sure a number of other readers also looked at it as well.
    That,to me, is the power of the internet.
    Horny Toad

  8. 58 and counting.
    Hello pardner, this blogging stuff is old farts’ business. But don’t tell the CBC; they might decide it’s no longer sexy.
    Mark
    Ottawa

  9. Damn, Kate, this reminds me of an informal poll about 5 years back on the RD list. Who knew that all those hooligans were in their 40s and 50s?!!
    50, WM, read SDA back when it was just a sidebar off your main site. Didn’t realize it had been bloggified until Instapundit linked to you.
    Cheers,
    RGT

  10. I’m 32 and you’re right. My impression is that I’m a young’in in the blogosphere.
    Keep up the good work, Kate!
    BTW, not to put you down or anything, but you have more insight than 99% of the columnists and talking heads in this country. Certainly, more than the government in your province.

  11. Keep up the excellent hard work Kate! you deserve to finally get some recompense, think of all the dog food! am pretty sure ’bout 1/2 of those 4500 hits are mine:) popping in and out all day.
    BTW Cap’t Ed linked me to you in early April of this year, been hooked ever since and have turned many people on to your site as well. FANtastic!

  12. In football terms I am nearly one year into my fourth quarter of my first century,(75) retired 10 years ago, after forty-five years of flying. I roam through the blogs regularly as well as making occasional guest posts on the Shotgun. SDA and the Shotgun are my favourites but I follow the leads to other blogs and visit Neale News, Drudge Spector, etc. I haven’t abandoned nespapers but seem to leave them half unread since getting immersed in the blogesphere. Without a Canadian version of Fox News the blogs give me the chance to see coverage of events here that isn’t edited to show favourably to the Liberal/NDP alliance. Of course much of the editing is not apparent until you realize it is done by ommission.

  13. 69 year old male – twice retired. Read papers
    occasionally for business section and cartoons.
    Have only dialup so reading blogs is restricted but
    get most of my politcal information that way.

  14. Kate,
    There are as many statistical algorithms for interpreting visits, pages, uniques and so forth as there are log file analysis programs. Each of them figure it out a little differently so the numbers are alawys different. I wouldn’t think by that much though.
    May want to install a second or third log analysis software to comapre with. Or, copy your log files to home and run them through a couple different programs there.

  15. This is kind of like true confessions. Okay 46 W/F. Captain’s quarter’s put me on to your site. I do watch CBC just to see how they are filling the rest of the countries heads with propaganda. Liberal’s can do no wrong… Steve Harper better not spit on the sidewalk, someone would be there to take a picture. My Uncle was a very well known CBC/BBC news broadcaster. I believe that in his day it was with princle and pride to report the story, not become part of it. I was raised with watching CBC. I also was raised to vote. It really pisses me off when they show all of these negative people on the news, not interested in voting, why waste the time on them?
    They will do and say what ever they can against blogging, the truth always comes out. Thanks to Kate, we are finally getting to hear the truth.

  16. Quick Link-Love For The Evening

    I’m busy trying to fix some issues with the Trackbacks — I understand they’re still not working properly, although comments seem to be okay — and get some other work done. Instead of trying to force a couple of posts,…

  17. I agree with you, Mary, except that I see this thread a bit more as a community of people virtually shaking hands in introduction as we prepare to address the upcomming campaign &c.
    Courtesy of our publican, of course, Kate.
    Because, as Wikipedia says, “The owner of a public house is known as the publican, and may be referred to as “guv” (short for guv’nor, or governor) in some parts of the country. Each pub generally has a crowd of regulars, people who drink there regularly. The pub people visit most often is called their local. In many cases, this will be the pub nearest to their home, but some people choose their local for other reasons: proximity to work, a traditional venue for their friends, the availability of real ale, or maybe just a pool table.”
    Thanks, guv.

  18. 54 DWM (lowest form of life in Kanada) I disconected my cable when hockey went out, bought a set of rabbit ears to watch Grey Cup,the only newspaper I buy sometimes is Barons,I read about 6 blogs daily starting with SDA.I’m basicaly a technopeasant.

  19. 47 year old SWM, Army Reserve officer, and provincial gov’t employee.
    I expected to be computer illiterate until the CF put me into a 2 yr computer project in Ottawa 15 years ago. Favorite blogs, along with SDA, are LGF and ejectejecteject.com (You have to read the article ‘Tribes’). USS Cluless was the first blog I ever followed, but sadly, the writer became frustrated with the political part of his blog and stopped writing those articles.
    MSM is definetly scared of blogs, it forces them to be accountable.

  20. 20 year old male, i read SDA as well as a number of other blogs ~1/2 dozen, and only read the free press because it’s the only newspaper my remote place of employ receives…and only then to see what the Liberals are saying for the day.

  21. Ahh, it warms my heart to see a 20-year old in the RAC, VE4JHJ. Keep up the good work, lad.

  24. And I fit right into this guy’s blind spot too. Another 54 year old (for a couple more weeks) who depends on blogs for my access to news. It makes me slightly better informed than my wee wifey, who depends mostly on talk radio and sometimes actually even the MSM.
    As for those “tech savvy twenty year olds”, I was modifying my computers with a soldering iron before they were born.

  25. 25, and still a student.
    I came to blogs when I was studying the MSM during my undergrad degree. I wrote my thesis on the corruption and malaise in the MSM and searched for ways to get the public more engaged and well informed. Guess what kept coming up…blogs! I’ve been reading various blogs since then, but once I found SDA, I’ve been coming here everyday ever since.
    If anyone wants a good read, try “Power and Betrayal in the Canadian Media” by David Taras. Really brings home much of what is said here.

  26. 55 year old Texan-by-choice. I read 15 to 20 blogs daily keeping an eye on the US, the EU and Canadian liberals! I follow the MSM and get the other side (and sides not even shown) from blogs. It’s really the stuff the MSM skips that interests me the most.

  27. I’m 50, suburban, professional, and deeply appreciative of how the internet has allowed me to bypass MSM bias and dishonesty.
    As for Chris Waddell, well, he IS a professor of journalism, so it’s not surprising that he spouts nonsense.

  29. I am female, age 69, and have been reading the newspapers, and blogs when they came along, online for the past seven years. I moved to a rural area with no newspaper delivery. I’m glad it happened. Now I know for sure how badly news is written and slanted. I knew before that it was but thought I could get some type of middle area by reading more than one paper or news magazine. I am also a c-span junkie so I realized that sound bites were not what was really happening. It is so nice to have blogs that lead you to the real transcripts, photos, and all the different viewpoints. I feel I can make a better determination on what is actually the truth!

  30. I am 51 and have an MA. I read blogs because the mass media is either extremely biased (more like propaganda) or runs with not-that-important stories (such as missing teens) as if they are the most important stories in the country. Just sick of that crap. I am so thankful for the blogs and the internet. I hardly watch FOX anymore — even they are too driven with sensationalism just to get greater viewership share.

  32. I’m 36, have my own little blog. If my traffic is any indication, I get surges around lunch time and dinner time and then one around 10-11 p.m. My readership is a mix, predominantly female ages 30 to 60. I am a huge blog reader and get my news almost exclusively from the web. It is easier to fact check stories immediately. What a relief to not have to watch some bug-eyed blond or popmpous middle aged blowhard feign concern or dismay over events and just learn about them.

  33. This is almost llike a 12 step program (LOL).
    Actually I like the statistics you are compiling. They show that the people who read blogs are as diverse as the population and as widespread.
    I am 65, retired, living in (unfortunately) NYC, trend conservative in most ways. I have not willingly read a newspaper for several years. My last three were the Boston Globe, the NY Times and the Washington Post. That was not good for my blood pressure (thank God I tend to have slightly low BP). Then I discovered blogs and between the quotes and references to the media and the comments by people who really do know what they are talking about I have found no reason to read the papers since. I can find my favorite cartoons on line and I also find that by reading the military blogs and the blogs written by the Iraqis I am getting a much better idea of what is going on in the world. Keep up the good work.
    One last thing. Canada, please come to your senses and vote down the Liberals. The world would be a far better place then.

  34. American white male, about to hit Presidential-eligibility age. I only occasionally bother with the MSM for current events anymore. Their PC-bias itself isn’t so much bothersome to me as their lame attempt to pass their product off as objective. At least bloggers make no effort to disguise their leanings, mainly because they have no good reason to do so. The blogosphere also can be counted on to cover any number and manner of stories that the MSM doesn’t give anywhere near the level of coverage it deserves. (French riots, anyone?) Last, but not least, unlike the MSM, most bloggers I’ve read (not to mention their commentators) even manage to inject their own sense of humor into the stories they cover.

  35. I am 55 and first began reading blogs after the Mapes/Rather fiasco last year. Bloggers did a fantastic job of debunking that story1 Keep up the good work Kate. I haven’t watched msm in a year.

  36. When they are not calling us tech savvy 20 year olds they are saying we are old guys who blog instead of yelling at the TV. I’ll go with the former despite the fact I actually am old enough to be the latter.
    MSM does not get blogs. But people like Gunter, Wells, Cosh, Coyne and, weirdly enough, Antonia Zerbasis at the Star do.
    Folks as clueless as the Aspers will never get blogs; but that does not mean that a lot of rather smarter people are going to miss the point too.
    We keep on writing and, collectively, alter the media landscape. Whether MSM likes it or not/

  37. At 66 years of age I consider it a complement to be considered a 20 something technocrat. I get 60% of my news from bolggers and 40% from Fox news.
    I do not listen to talking points and consider myself to be well informed on all sides of issues.

  38. I am 65, a university professor,
    and I check your blog several times a day.
    I get all my news from the internet.
    The only newspaper I read is the National Post
    but only for their columnists.
    I skip the news items
    because by the time I get the paper
    I know all everything already.

  39. This line from the prof was laughable:
    “He adds some of the more effective blogs, especially in the United States, have reached mass audiences – but it’s because reporters from mainstream media pick up on a blog posting.”
    Our blog has had posts that have been picked up by folks in the MSM from time to time and we were also prominently featured in an editorial in one of the local papers here in Minneapolis/St. Paul. The impact of such MSM attention on traffic was trivial. You get far more attention and reach many more readers when you get a link from one of the big time bloggers like Instapundit, Hugh Hewitt, Power Line, etc. than you ever do from the MSM.

  40. I think I’m the youngin’ here. I’m 16 and female. I got into the blog world after stumbling upon Captains Quarters during the Gomery Commission. I’ve since discovered SDA and other good blogs. Keep up the great work Kate!

  41. Hi all,…46 here,been a faithful reader for a year.I now see things in a whole new light.Love ya Kate.I have an ex liberal MP as family member , and a couple of others working on policy’s for the povincial Gov’t.Needless to say, I’m always told to shut up and be nice,… much like us poor sods.Never again will they pull the wool over my eyes.

  42. I turn 46 next week and I’m male so that puts me pretty squarely in your demographic. On the other hand, my wife (a year younger, female, and much better looking) is also a big blog reader. My father started working with computers before I was born (yes, they’ve changed a bit since then). When my family bought its first computer in 1976, I was in High School. I’ve been working with computers since then. That’s almost 30 years. The current “crop” of twenty-somethings weren’t even born when I started. Looking at the comments entered, I’m not the oldest one here, by any means.
    As for this:
    “People are not coming home from work at night and deciding they have to read 10 or 12 blogs before dinner in the same way they may read the newspaper or sit down to watch the news.”
    I don’t get a paper-based newspaper. Haven’t for years. Since August (when we moved) we haven’t had television (and it’s surprising how nice that is once you get used to it). I do, however, read the following daily (or nearly so) – but not before dinner. I read after my daughter is in bed:
    * SDA (or I wouldn’t be here, duh)
    * PowerLine
    * Hugh Hewitt
    * Radio Blogger
    * Michelle Malkin
    * Captain’s Quarters
    * ScrappleFace and Day by Day (the comics section of my “newspaper”)
    I also skim or read or at least visit about a dozen others now and then (call it my Sunday edition) – Big Lizards, Strange Women Lying in Ponds, Mark D. Roberts, Groklaw, SlashDot, Christianity Today, Patterico, Daily Demarche, Lileks’ Bleat and Back Fence, etc.
    Since I also follow many of the links and read articles and other blogs linked to, I get a pretty good idea of what’s going on around the world. Although we have a (free) local paper, the Gazette, they haven’t found us since our move. But it’s available online and that’s where we read it. I never even go to the big papers unless I’m following a link in a blog.

  44. I have two blogs myself, one a personal journal mostly private or for family and friends and one a more public reading and writing journal. Just have to weigh in on this one – I am 56 going on 57 and female. More and more, I am getting perspective on many issues from blogs.

Proudly powered by WordPress & Skyrocket Themes

MENU

Navigation