DISQUS

ANGRYBROOMSTICK · 8 months ago

you're a good blogger, Cole, I thought I'd tell you that. I read Variety, but I prefer Slash and FSR because they bring much more interesting "news" that I actually want to hear about, like an A-list star taking a closed-door meeting with a director. I also enjoy discussions with other people here and on Slash, where it's not as much lively on Variety. Lastly, there is a touch of more personal contact here with you guys unlike Variety or Hollywood Reporter or any of those snooty L.A based bloggers who have mixed with the rich and the famous.

just my 2 cents.

ANGRYBROOMSTICK · 8 months ago

AND besides, doesn't anyone remember back in the 50s, a major paper (maybe NY Times?) wrongly declared that Harry S. Truman lost the presidential race, even before the votes were done being counted? That was on the front page back in the 50s.. my point is, the Internet changes nothing.

Wholly Moley · 8 months ago

It was the Chicago Tribune, not the New York Times.

And it was 1948, not "back in the 50s." (Hence "Dewey Beats Truman," not "Stevenson Beats Eisenhower.")

Your point, if you had one, was lost in your unresearched analogy.

Concerned · 8 months ago

Please calm down, you're scaring us all.

Moses Roberts · 8 months ago

A lot of subjects touched in the articles are problems I see with many blogs, which is why I stopped visiting them. Most blogs and bloggers alike come off as "journalist" but when under the microscope by it's own community for some wrong doing or extremely biased article, they back off the journalist rope and jump back onto the "blog" rope... setting themselves apart from journalism and "clearing" their name of any mudslinging or dirty deeds. What I don't get is how come most bloggers (i'm not naming names but some of them are big time blogs) resort to such an act, and then try proceed to pass themselves off as journalist?

In retrospect, a lot of print media is equally accountable for the same thing, but they never call themselves anything else than what they are... print media. If I simply don't like a writer of a publication, I flat out ignore his articles (I've seen a lot of publications now adding [Second-Thought] or [Follow-up] sections to big articles). When it happens on a blog though, one can only suffer through it, or simply avoid that blog outright because the teams usually is on the same mindset. Outside of film, tech blogs that hug Apple and demonize Microsoft for no reason other than "apple loyalty" tend to have teams that all think a like, and hire people who think just like them. With print media, Ambiguous tech magazines hire an assortment of minds who all think differently, so you get more of an open minded approach. Film blogs are sort of the same way, which is why I stopped reading some of them and opted for more traditional means of information.

And Side-note: I love when bloggers put commentary to trailers. It sparks debate, something that traditional media lacks. I just wish that both could conform together to oust the bad elements and glorify the good elements.

Rob_Hunter · 8 months ago

Great read Cole.

(Please note the absence of a snarky comment or punchline.)

RobertFure · 8 months ago

I'd just like to say I don't consider myself a Blogger because I don't live in a basement and huff glue while writing my reviews. I have a nice wireless card and huff glue by the pool. The only thing I have against print media is that they look down on online media. Just like print looked down on radio, and lost, then radio and print looked down on TV, and lost, now print, radio, and TV are looking down on the internet. All this has happened before. All this will happen again.

Voltron · 8 months ago

great article

Michelle_FSR · 8 months ago

Great article, Cole. Like other commenters, I read a lot of the film "blogs" as well as Variety and the like, but I find that my favourite articles tend to come from /film, first showing and here. Rather than just a bare bones facts-only approach or one completely skewed with fluff and bias, the articles are well thought out and interesting and when given the choice ( which google reader provides) I know which I'll read first and fastest

Michelle_FSR · 8 months ago

Does that mean we're destined to get another remake of BSG in 20 years?

Nick · 8 months ago

I prefer film blogs (particularly FSR) because you are not afraid to say something really "Sucks!". And your point of view is unique enough to drive traffic.

I get tired of reading Variety and others that are either straight publicity statements or watered-down/simplistic reviews that have no soul.

Matt · 8 months ago

Excellent commentary on this issue. This is why I stick to just reviewing films I feel like reviewing and rarely post any news. Some of us just have fun examining film and not worrying about the limits of print media, which is mostly getting published in those print medias when you already have a full time job.

Film Gurl · 8 months ago

Great article! I think any kind of journalism is somewhat "subjective." I think it's up to the individual person to decide what they want to read/not read and believe/not believe. The Internet gives people a choice of what they want to see/not see - times are changing ;)

Evan Buck · 8 months ago

As long as I don't have to pay for the material, I am game ;)

John Mason · 8 months ago

Wow, makes sense to me. Well done!

RT
www.online-privacy.pro.tc

Sam_isusingan_ · 8 months ago

I think the reason that blogs are so popular is because of the interaction between the audience and the author. We can have in-depth conversations, however joke filled, about the subject. But like you said, that does raise the issue of "us" deciding what is newsworthy, which can lead to the rumour-monging. It can also lead to incredibly frustrating weeks where all that is seeming newsworthy is a video of christian bale getting angry at the workplace.

The blogging world is a mixture of "legitimate" journalism and the office watercooler. I use legitimate in quotation marks because since journalism is an industry, you get bullshit in print media too. You get slights and twists, ignoring that journalism is supposed to be the Fifth Estate.

Print/Radio/TV media looks down at the blogging world because it's new (as Fure said, they have a history of doing this) and because it threatens their livelihood. These are also, sometimes, people who have degrees in journalism or communications, and are uncomfortable with the blogger the same way they'd be uncomfortable with a new anchor/reporter/journalist who has no background and is suddenly in the limelight. Let the ol' crones complain all they want. Keep voicing your opinions, keep the humour coming, and keep interesting news coming and you'll keep me coming back.

Cole_Abaius · 8 months ago

I only hope so. And that time they'll include the awesome robot dog from the original movie. Fingers crossed.

FilmmakingStuff · 8 months ago

When I got started in this industry, all the information was provided by people who seemed so out of reach and out of touch with those of us out there who needed to know more. Blogs offer a great alternative to the mainstream... Or rather, they are the new mainstream. From the big conglomerate perspective, I would say that blogs offer a nice dose of competition.

Loukas · 7 months ago

Journalism is not a science. You can't be a mathematician without a degree in mathematics but you can damn well be a journalist with no degree at all. Whether you're good, bad or average, whether you check your facts or have a solid opinion on the things you report, will come out eventually out of your body of work.

That the information sources become more and more everyday doesn't mean that the bulk of information grows along. As it becomes more difficult to follow everybody that reports stuff --and basically the exact same, usually clearly pompus and unimportant, stuff -- people will become less open in new sources and will rely on less and less of those available, thus reversing the internet's greatest asset, plurality. On top of that a new system of mainstream information gateways will be formed out of what's popular and what the sources believe will interest and attract most readers. It's already formed. That's a drawback, not a progress of any kind and it doesn't, by no means, help towards an open information society.

As for blogging that's just another term for talking in public, only this time the public sphere is a lot larger than our local cafeteria and the talkers become professionals thus they have more at stake than just looking foolish. Subsequently the voices will be more and will eventually compete in terms of loudness instead of logic argument or solid opinion. Still, there will be those who will try to do the latter and those are the people a true reader will look for.

In their core things are no different than with the arrival of any new unexplored medium of communication. And bullshit remain bullshit no matter what one calls them.

flameyheadgear · 7 months ago

Variety's opinion is of absolutely no consequence. Actually, how little their opinion matters is laughable. Newspapers and magazines are folding because readers have more choices and less money. Perhaps these choices are not being made carefully in all cases, but the effect of the Internet differs radically from the effect of any past medium in that it is limitless, easy and inexpensive, both for a writer and a reader. Journalists have traditionally and arrogantly been the whole and complete authority, but there's a very real and solid power being wielded by people who are not really part of the old machine. Some of these people are careful and thoughtful observers (like you, Cole), some are idiots and bullshit artists.

It's all out there, for better or for worse.

purchase land · 6 months ago

Blogs are a direct threat to Variety as it eats into their revenue if people read them instead.