Friday , March 29 2024
You can package it with strawberry-blonde hair, put pink lipstick on it, slap some dirty words all over and call it a blog, but a blog it does not make.

Welcome To The Machine

In the world of blogs, I am practically a veteran – two and a half years is half a lifetime in blog years. They come, they go, some thrive, some fail. Mine has done neither really, just chugged along with many peaks and valleys.

I always felt, even from day one – that blogs would become not just a fad, but an alternative medium. And I would like to think that I am right.

Just last night I was watching CNN’s Paula Zahn show, because I heard these bloggers were going to be on.

How exciting, finally blogs making the big news, breaking real stories. Investigative reporting and hard journalism. It was exhilarating!!!

I caught Glenn Reynolds and he is certainly professorial, even on TV. I wonder sometimes, how does he do it? You know, teach law, run a thriving website, father and rear children, be a dutiful husband – AND EVEN PLAY POKER?!?! Perhaps he has discovered the secret that millions of mothers throughout the century have known: zero sleep adds at least six more hours to each day.

I never caught the Powerline guys – I think they declined or were bumped or something. Very disappointing. I thought I might even see this blogger or this blogger. Both run extremely successful blogs that are constantly updated, hugely popular, highly relevant and have their thumbs on the throbbing pulse of politics and current events.

One is run by an anonymous individual who I suspect is an underemployed big media writer – or at least should be.

The other is run by an overemployed mother/wife/nine-to-five worker, who should have also been scooped up by big media.

And you know, they are actually real bloggers. To me a real blogger is someone who writes an online journal that can consists of both personal and factual information that is both relevant and of interest to a segment of the population on any subject. Then if you add the process of editing, fact-checking and research to that equation – minus a bankroll and the meatpuppeteering and engineering of a false persona of journal writing – you might have yourself a blogger – or at least a news blogger.

So why oh why did I see Wonkette YET AGAIN? How is she relevant? Why is she relevant? She writes hacker style posts, beating the same redunant dead horses about political figures with the same punchline: SOMEONE having anal sex. She raises vulgarity to an artform and is STILL invited to appear on TV and radio. In fact, everytime I hear a blog mentioned, she always seems to be the one.

Now, if this sounds like sourgrapes or petty jealousy – well then hit the back button and go back to whence you came. Anyone who has ever read my blog should know I don’t begrudge success to those who deserve it. I am thrilled to see any blogger who busts their ass posting, researching, honing their craft and making a positive DIFFERENCE in either their small world, or the world at large -get their much deserved recognition – and heaven forbid, even a few coins for their effort.

But gee, if the key to success is dropping the phrase “assfucking” and “anal-sex” every five words – then my God, I would think AndrewSullivan would be “shit bomb” of blogging.

What it comes down to is this: even within the lower-tiered media of the blogosphere someone is orchestrating and manipulating what was owned by the little people – only to now feed it back to us like a shit-sandwich with big media backing. Wonkette is a manufactured blog prototype. Ana Marie Cox is the brain-child of Nick Denton. Money has been pumped into her site, she is backed by money, SHE IS PAID A SALARY and most certainly has some high fallutin’ PR company running her show. That ain’t no blog I know of.

Sadly, mainstream media is buying this charade. Parading her around like the town whore, where everyone gets a ride. She is no more a “blog” than Britney Spears is a “musician.”

You can package it with strawberry-blonde hair, put pink lipstick on it, slap some dirty words all over and call it a blog, but a blog it does not make.

If the bloggers of the world want to rise up and become an entity in their own right and get some of the riches they so rightly deserve, then it is high time the proletariats stand up and strike down the aristocracy with a righteous a bitchslap.

About Dawn Olsen

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