March 24, 2005
And in This Corner...

Seems like one can't safely surf these days without crashing into one of those accounts of a "blogging vs. journalism" discussion in recent weeks. I keep thinking of addressing this issue and then I go back to something less aggravating, like teaching the cat to type. But here's one that is worth reading, featuring well-known folks like EJ Dionne, Ana Marie Cox, Andrew Sullivan, Jack Shafer from Slate, and others. It is purportedly about "new media" but, like an obnoxious relative at Sunday dinner, blog issues take up a lot of the discussion. I don't agree with every opinion voiced here but it seems to me a more thoughtful discussion than seen elsewhere. (It is a 94-page transcript, so print with caution.) Also, there are some funny bits. Here, a panelist from the Pew Research Center touches on the au courant "where are the political women bloggers" question:

Ms. Allen:...As for why women are less represented in opinion journalism, I think that women are less likely--I mean, opinion journalism is basically what? Thumb-sucking. And I think women are less likely to think that their thumbs are tasty enough to want to--
Ms. Cox: What a metaphor there.
Mr. Shafer: Thumbsucking.com will soon be a--
Mr. Dionne: If there isn't one already.

Posted at March 24, 2005 07:10 PM