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May 17, 2006
Missing the point
byIt amazes me how often MSM types miss big, important points about blogging -- and how they then mask their cluelessness with condescension. ("Blog on, my little honeybees, blog on.") The likely explanation is that they don't read blogs... but that they feel so threatened by them that they lash out at bloggers.
I don't know anyone this side of Nick Denton who is trying to make a living off of blogging. (I'm not, and that isn't the point of this conversation anyway.) Many bloggers make valuable contributions to critical discourse. The bloggers I've spotlighted here this week include: a gallerist, a software engineer, and a management consultant. Some of my favorite bloggers are retired investment bankers, museum staffers, and artists. They blog because they feel like they have something to add to the discussion about art in America, not because they're trying to make a killing living. (Not sure how this one word changes my argument, but DeCurtis seems to think it's the most important thing I wrote.) That should be admired and appreciated, not ridiculed. Furthermore, MSM editors and writers should be concerned that many blogs are covering art better than they are and in more interesting ways than they are. Instead of beating-up on bloggers, they should be trying to learn from them.
Posted by at May 17, 2006 8:59 AM