I have yet to find a good article in the established media, outside Terry Teachout’s Comment article, on blogging, particularly literary blogging. Does anyone have an idea why this medium is so impenetrable? Can it really be defensive? 

Well, in case you haven’t read my post from this afternoon, I just wrote about an AdAge column arguing that blogging isn’t any different from writing. I disagreed with the article, mostly, but here’s the link.

There was an article on litblogging the NY times a while back. I think Scott wrote it up on Conversational Reading. I wouldn’t exactly call it a “good” article, though.

I don’t think it’s “defensive,” though. I think the MSM is just trying to figure out what it’s all about, and why so many people would write so much, for free.

I saw your post and had not clicked through - I do like his (Dumenco) point, although I think it may be a bit extreme. I know I get in a huff about this stuff, and one of the reasons I started MetaxuCafe would be to help readers like Hoover (as in potentially thoughtful, but for some reason put off) find their way through the maze of blogs. But what I don’t understand is why the “established media” (and that is not meant to be 100% inclusive) must always take such a condescending attitude?

Bud, I think they are a bit threatened. There’s a fairly good collection of articles scattered around Mark Sarvas’ blog, though they are not recent - I did try to gather them in one category on mine, but I haven’t updated for a while (try Litblogs - Reviews; Media and Technology). Some of them I got from you actually.

Now that you have 168 members here (whew!) it’s certainly time for a profile of this site in the mainstream press. The Greensboro News Record has gone online in a big way and is a very blog-friendly paper - might be worth a try.
Down here in Oz, I went to a feature-writing class taken by a journo who specialises in literary profiles last year, and made the mistake of mentioning my blog - you could sense her hackles rising while the younger members of the class murmured approvingly, some of them being ‘zine writers an all. If people will do what you do for your livelihood for nothing and other people will read it - then there is a fear the ever dwindling arts pages of the paper will no longer carry your stuff.
I have a fancy however that the literature eds in our town are reading litblogs and copying their style - but it’s only a fancy.

Genevieve,

Well, I think book editors are more threatened from shrinking space and market realities than blogs. But really, any one who cares about literature should see what’s going on and be heartened that there is life out there, instead of being defensive about it.

I’ve never heard of Greensboro News Record, but I’ll check them out. I still feel like I have a lot of work to go to get this site where I think it’s meaningful enough for msm coverage.

Agree, but it is amazing what fear technology inspires in the untechie. And Bud, you know I think this site is simply grand.

I threw out the Greensboro site as an example - they are heavily into the Internet newspaper thing, but they may be a little too localised for your liking. Jay Rosen, one of the gurus of online journalism, has given it a plug because they have set up their site for reader interaction. It’s worth a look just to see that working.

What others have said.  Keep in mind, Bud, that, as absurd as it all sounds, the mainstream media sees us as competitors, regardless of whether we’re actually setting out to compete!

I think most of the mainstream media’s attention on blogging has been focused primarily on bloggers who are pseudo-journalists. That’s a very different space than creative writing, which has more to do with telling about the author than telling the news or expressing an editorial point of view.

I switched from a standard web site format to a blog format years ago for sake of convenience in posting and organizing old and new ideas. Plus, I like the ability to publish an RSS feed and have other bloggers make trackbacks. Having frequently updated content also seems to help with search engines. So, I don’t necessarily buy the same hype that mainstream media is putting on blogging, but the practicalities of the format work for me.

I think we need to just wait a while. Far too many blogs out there. We need to wait for the bust to come - when the numbers dwindle and the fad dies out. Too many people telling us what they ate for their breakfast. It’s like the dot.com bubble. But that’s fine. You know I heard dome media person saying they had exactly the same thing with the printed media in the early days of it. People weren’t sure what to do with it, but they learned through trial and error the best format. Patience will win out.

Ultimately, I think it’s true that good content will rise above the din. Good point, Dead Beat.

I think people often get an idea in their heads about what blogging is and then take the easy way out and don’t actually check out the real picture.  So, in people’s minds, blogs are about what some random person ate for breakfast.  Or people think of the big political blogs.  I don’t think many nonbloggers realize what great, innovative writing there is out there.  About the media—I’m sure there is something special about mainstream media’s defensiveness, but part of it might be simply ignorance.

Dorothy W. - 19 August 2006 05:21 PM

I don’t think many nonbloggers realize what great, innovative writing there is out there.

I’d love to see links to some of your favorite sites—sounds like you’ve taken the time to find some good stuff out there!

Well, I’m at http://www.ofbooksandbikes.blogspot.com, where you can check out my blogroll, but some of my favorites are Tny Cat Pants, Tales from the Reading Room, Bitch, Ph.D, So Many Books, A Work in Progress, Box of Books, and The Hobgoblin of Little Minds.  You’ll see the links on my blogroll—and the other sites are good too!