Professional Journalism Promotes Democracy, Fails to Fucking Loosen Up.
I've been unable to write anything good since the semester ended. Perhaps it was because it marked the end of a small rennaisance, back when I thought I was going to go into the School of Journalism. I was somehow going to tie in Blogging with Journalism and turn the J-School on its ear. I ended up, however, being easily discouraged. The intro class the J-School forces everyone to take was boring. I didn't even need to go to class in order to pass the tests. I ended up with an "A" in the class (a rare occurrence for my by its own right), but something didn't ignite. Was I really willing to take on the J-School, armed only with a weblog, the Cluetrain, and maybe even Gonzo Marketing?
I thought I was, but it was a very large uphill battle. Of course there were all of the articles talking about how people were discussing blogging-as-journalism. Schools are offering classes on blogging. And yet, it still isn't, it's missing something. Traditional Journalists will just pass a blog off as unprofessional. Most of them are. In fact, I would estimate that 98% of blogs don't even break "news" - they just recycle stuff that ultimately came upstream from a bigCompany, or talk about stuff that other people are talking about.
My "big break" came in March of this year, when I was interviewed by reporter Leslie Brooks Suzukamo of the Pioneer Press for an article he wrote about weblogs. It failed. The article ran on the Pioneer Press website sans hyperlinks, with the exception of a link to some quote at the beginning of the article. At the end of my "interview" with Leslie, I challenged him to start a blog - to "help the cause" as it were. He started one, as well as the Pioneer Press. Leslie's blog lasted all of four posts. Good effort, Leslie. It's OK, though, you no doubt have a wife and one or two kids, and maybe a dog to look over somewhere out in Suburbia. Gotta pay the bills. Might as well do it from the comfort from behind the "professional reporter" mask.
All ranting aside, I'm surprised that it lasted that many posts - or that Leslie managed to start a weblog in the first place. The problem is he filtered it like you'd expect a "professional" to do. That is what they've been trained to do: be objective, and always tell the truth. Some reporters even manage to throw a pinch of "making democracy work" into the mix.
What happened to Gonzo? Where the fuck is the good doctor in this time of need? Writing articles for ESPN, no doubt. This man could be a grizzly bear. I'm sorry, the Doctor is out on assignment in Beirut, we can have his intern, RageBoy come in and give you a full physical. He'll try to sell you something just as you're undressing, though.
We need more Gonzo, professional or otherwise on the Web. Stat.
2:53:41 AM 
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