Someone should just let the MIW read this and weep...I feel
sorry for the blogger who got BULLIED into giving up his right to
free speech in a international domain.
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Bloggers' Conference Emphasizes Reporting
By GARY TANNER, Associated Press Writer 41 minutes ago
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Bloggers those Internet-based writers without
rules are fighting back against criticism that their work is
unreliable, libelous or just poorly done. More than 300 bloggers
came to town Friday for a two-day conference that was heavy on
teaching techniques used by journalists in what bloggers term "the
mainstream media." One class taught students how to access and
analyze government statistics.
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Conference organizer Bill Hobbs called blogging "citizen
journalism."
"If freedom of the press belongs to those who have the press, then
blogging expands ownership of the press," Hobbs said.
Right now, more than 8 million people write blogs, said Bob Cox,
president of the Media Bloggers Association. Blogs, short for Web
logs, are running commentaries on whatever their authors are
interested in. Con
tent often focuses on politics or media criticism and usually
includes feedback from readers.
Participants such as Shelley Henderson said they want to expand
their research capabilities to strengthen their commentaries.
Henderson, of Los Angeles, dedicates her blog to keeping the
Internet unregulated.
Blake Wylie of Nashville was among the participants who took
exception to criticisms from politicians and mainstream media
pundits that their work is often inaccurate.
Wylie said bloggers often provide links to let readers go directly
to their sources of information.
Hobbs noted that blogs entries are corrected more thoroughly and
prominently than in other forms of media.
"We write and then our readers edit us," Hobbs said.
Linda Seebach, a columnist for The Rocky Mountain News, said
traditional media outlets are experimenting with involving bloggers
in their news reports. Her newspaper this week launched a series of
40 community-oriented blogs to serve the Denver area.
Hobbs said bloggers and the news media are linked because bloggers
use them for source material and that the relationship could grow
closer.
University of Tennessee law professor Glenn Reynolds is attempting
to establish a global blogger news service, Hobbs said. He said the
usefulness of the venture was shown when the Indian Ocean tsunami
struck last year and the first accounts and pictures from the area
came from bloggers.