Yesterday, I read a post on freelancewritinggigs.com titled Google CEO Eric Schmidt not on board with bloggers. A major theme of the post was that while “writers” are respected “bloggers” are not. A more minor point in the post, but the one which I found quite interesting was that editors are a vital part of the publishing industry who ensure only quality material makes it to print….something that the blog world lacks:
And if you’re ever confused as to the value of newspaper editors, look at the blog world. That’s all you need to see. -Eric Schmidt
So, intrigued by this quote, I began thinking about editors. I believe the way Mr. Schmidt meant this quote to be taken was that editors are a vital part of the publications for which they work, there is an art to what they do and that without them we’d be overrun by useless lackluster content. I, however, read something entirely different into his words.
The age of blogging has brought with it the freedom for anyone around the world to publish their thoughts on any subject they wish to write about. This has led to a dramatic change in the amount of content available to readers and also a shift in the sources from which they get their content. When I look at the blog world I, unlike Mr. Schmidt, do not see a sea of boring, artless content unworthy of my attention and in desperate need of an editor’s touch. Instead I see an unprecedented amount of unique, original content produced by a broader and more diverse collection of writers from all corners of the globe. I see the raw–and thankfully unedited–voice of the people. Maybe most importantly, I see the opportunity to become my own editor because blogging not only gives all of us a voice, but also gives each of us the opportunity to choose for ourselves what to read, to watch, and to share. To suggest that I, or anyone else, needs an editorial staff to determine what is worthy of our attention is not only a bit insulting, but a bit archaic too.
I think the blog world can be compared to the world of American beer. It used to be that the American beer market was almost completely made up of a few large breweries. If you wanted a beer in America, you had a very limited choice. Then, over the course of the last couple of decades, there was a resurgence of home brewers and craft brewers in this country. Many of these brewers eventually started their own microbreweries and started selling beers that appealed to the segment of American beer drinkers who were bored by the comparatively flavorless beer being produced by the large beer makers. These microbreweries didn’t have the large quality assurance teams that the large breweries had, many of them probably didn’t even have a certified braumeister, or brew master. They were, however, still able to produce beers that people loved and this has led to thriving microbrewery, nanobrewery and home brew supply industries in the U.S.
The point here is that whether we are talking about beer or blogs, people want more choices and people are capable of deciding what they like and don’t like. People are also more than capable of producing their own products–or in the case of bloggers, content–when the usual outlets aren’t giving them what they want. Just as the emergence of craft beers in the American market is a sure sign that many beer drinkers were tired of the same old macrobrews and wanted something new and different, the emergence and growth of the blog world is indicative of a population bored and unwilling to trust the content published by the largest news sources and searching for a fresh perspective.
I think if we edit Mr. Schmidt’s quote down a bit, it is a bit more on point: Look at the blog world. That’s all you need to see. The Blog World is the closest thing we have ever seen to a truly free press that provides people of all nationalities, races, classes and religions with a platform to share their voice with the world. It is the only place where you can get the collective raw, unedited voice of the people and that’s an amazing thing. It is also the only place where truly free consumers are allowed the freedom to be their own editors and decide what gets read.
Editors provide an important service for the publications they serve. There is value in what they do and there is definitely still a place in this world for editors. Yet, with their ties to advertisers, parent corporations and/or governments there is just no place for them in the blog world. We like our media agenda-free, thanks.
Source: Jason Teitelman
