For those proclaiming the 'Triumph of the Blogs'
Please, now is not the time.
From Andrew Orlowski in the Register:
I agree entirely. (And perhaps some print and TV personalities could limit their "ambulance-chasing" as well?)
From Andrew Orlowski in the Register:
"For the technology evangelists, the glee is barely containable. The daily business of congratulating each other jumps to a whole new level with all the bloggers marveling in unison at their ability to detail real-time tragedy.
December's tsunami, which left over 100,000 dead in Asia, rapidly became an excuse to trumpet the superiority of those using this new technology. Although far more people read first hand reports from friends via email, it was the weblog evangelists who touted it as a breakthrough.
London's terror bombings left over 50 dead yesterday, but that was beside the point. The real significance of the attacks, burbled one blogger, "is yet another exemplary case study in using this electric medium as both a means and a space in which to communicate". Digging deep into her contacts book for an impartial expert, a reporter for The Guardian got as far as a colleague.
"Blogs excel as an arena for people to exchange first-hand experiences and many witnesses to the events in London told their tales online while bloggers from around the globe sent messages of support and condolences," we learned.
[...]
Yesterday, several veteran writers who use the weblog format urged others to put the event into perspective.
"Now is not the time to point to a ‘wiki’ setup to collect information about the bombs in London, and smugly say how much better it is at covering the news than the New York Times," wrote Shelley Powers. "Now is not the time to bring up the incriminations of why this happened and use it as fodder and ammunition in this stupid oneupmanship that characterizes too many of the popular web sites.
"Don’t use this event to promote weblogging."
Seth Finkelstein called it for what it is: "ambulance chasing".
I agree entirely. (And perhaps some print and TV personalities could limit their "ambulance-chasing" as well?)
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