We Want Media

Dear Mr. Berkowitz,

While the comments you’ve made against the blogsphere may have been valid some four years ago, at this point in time they are simply insipid and uniformed.

Blogs fill a crucial void in mainstream media by providing niche content that normally wouldn’t be given the time of day. The blogosphere has proven it is capable of not only maintaining journalistic integrity (see Romenesko, Engadget, or Gothamist), but also breaking major news stories (The Drudge Report and Rathergate) and even critiquing the mainstream media from the inside out (CBS Public Eye).

To say that “they're just somebody's opinion” is ignoring the structure and form bloggers have created to ensure that quality blogs don’t become the pedestals for crazy street corner rants that you described. Sure, the Internet may be infested with millions of what you call “barely cogent to borderline dyslexic diary blogs”, but to dismiss them simply because they serve you no immediate intellectual or entertainment purpose is to dismiss the idea of open communication and the basic principles of Internet. Heck, you might as well throw away the whole concept of democracy while you’re at it!

Has it ever crossed your mind that these “losers spewing self-indulgent tripe” don’t want you to read their blog? While it may seem like many of these “losers” are looking for attention, most of them maintain blogs simply to keep friends and family in the loop.

I despise rambling teenage rants just as much as the next guy. But the Internet is a public space, possibly the greatest (and only) democratic forum in the history of man, and with that freedom comes great responsibility – the responsibility to ignore what stupid people have to say.

Your friend, and fellow blogger,

Eric Schutzbank

UPDATE: My letter was printed in todays edition of the Daily Free Press.