Week 6--Blogging!

It was interesting to read in O’Reillys We the Media, the history of the concept of personal journalism and how it evolved to be what it is today. While the concept dates back to the days of Thomas Paine and the pamphleteers, who like many bloggers, became a voice of dissent against the bureaucracy, much of the dissent was aimed towards government whereas today it seems as if traditional media has also become a target. It’s interesting that he points out how the old media started out in the name of public service, but ended up selling out to conglomerates where the bottom line became the bottom line. The blogging phenomenon seems to have started with the same intentions and interestingly seems to be commercializing more and more with the increase in popularity. When will major advertising companies start using the heavy traffic blogs as another large medium for making money? Have they already?

The question seems to be whether new media will help perpetuate and advance traditional media or if it’ll be the point of breaking away from it. With more and older media going online, it seems for right now, blogging technology is helping it evolve and grow. Major networks such as CNN, FOX, MSN are all going online—each with popular bloggers (Anderson Cooper, Bill O’Reilly, etc)—and incorporating the use of blogging technology into their shows. They seem to be trying to interact with their audience more, asking them to post their own blogs, or reply to theirs. However, the ultimate outcome lies in their hands. If they continue to be smart about it and evolve with the changing times as NPR is doing with their podcasts and their creative use of ad space, listen to their audience and adapt to the new wave of media catalysts, the strong network and influence they enjoy in the communications world will work in their favor.

Question: As O’Reilly asserts in We the Media “…industries consolidate. This is the nature of capitalism.” Do you think the fate of blogging will be similar to that of traditional media? In other words, is it inevitable that blogging will evolve into the same situation of corporate control? Why or why not?

When will major advertising companies start using the heavy traffic blogs as another large medium for making money? Have they already? What implications would this have?

How has NPR positioned itself to be a market leader in podcasts in contrast to other networks? How does this reflect the values and needs of the changing new media audience?