Wednesday, February 16, 2005
Traditional Media Realpolitik
Political Bloggers - the new paparazzi
Yow! Some depressing thoughts from Mark Cuban on "how to deal with" bloggers. And an even more depressing vision of 'traditional' media.
Grab: Bring in the more popular blogs that like you, and the same number of those that don’t. Give them as much access as you give the NY Times, Wash Post. Don’t muzzle them, let them write.
I will tell you exactly what will happen next. The blogs you invite in will still try to trip you up, but they will quickly morph and act like traditional media. [emphasis added] When you screw up, they will tell you when it happens and give you a chance to comment and respond. They will like being on the inside and adjust to try to stay there.
The bloggers left on the outside will continue to try to trip you up, but will spend more time and energy trying to tear down the bloggers who got inside the gates. Jealousy is a bitch.
While I'd like to argue with Cuban's realpolitik, I can't. And it points to the danger we in business media always face. We want to be part of the industry, to have access. So we adjust, police ourselves, practice self-censorship.
There is another way, of course. Rather than trying to join the club, we should be creating the clubhouse. That is, we should shape the conversation of the industries we serve, rather than trying to elbow our way into the inner circle.
Comments
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Yow! Some depressing thoughts from Mark Cuban on "how to deal with" bloggers. And an even more depressing vision of 'traditional' media.
Grab: Bring in the more popular blogs that like you, and the same number of those that don’t. Give them as much access as you give the NY Times, Wash Post. Don’t muzzle them, let them write.I will tell you exactly what will happen next. The blogs you invite in will still try to trip you up, but they will quickly morph and act like traditional media. [emphasis added] When you screw up, they will tell you when it happens and give you a chance to comment and respond. They will like being on the inside and adjust to try to stay there.
The bloggers left on the outside will continue to try to trip you up, but will spend more time and energy trying to tear down the bloggers who got inside the gates. Jealousy is a bitch.
While I'd like to argue with Cuban's realpolitik, I can't. And it points to the danger we in business media always face. We want to be part of the industry, to have access. So we adjust, police ourselves, practice self-censorship.
There is another way, of course. Rather than trying to join the club, we should be creating the clubhouse. That is, we should shape the conversation of the industries we serve, rather than trying to elbow our way into the inner circle.
