Blogvision
: Jon Stewart lampoons the blog segments on cable news (Crooks & Liars has the video) and, as always, he’s right. There’s plenty to make fun of:
Wow. By reading the blogs on TV, the 24-hour cable channels have combined the visual pizzazz of a text file with the deep insight of a 90-second cable segment.
And about the blogcasts I’m so proud of (and I’m not sure what to think about them showing Ed Cone instead of me… jealousy or relief):
Wow. That’s the same cutting-edge technology that powers VoyeurDorm.com.
And on giving their show hosts blogs:
Kudos to MSNBC for finally using blogs to give voice to the already-voiced.
Can’t argue with any of it. Can only laugh.
So why are the cable news networks embracing the blogs? Rob Corddry says it’s because of terror of this new animal in the jungle…. and besides, those CNN blog chicks are hot. (Well, he thinks they are.)
But seriously, folks… If you’re going to try to jump on the — Stewart wink — blogwagon, how should you do it? Should you do it?
CNN has the chicks reading the geeks. MSNBC started by having bloggers actually on the air and I thought that was good (being one of them). Last week, they switched format, it seems, to have producer and nice guy Tony Maciulis do the reports: He’s good at it. Everybody’s reading text off a screen and, yes, it does make for a straight line.
So what’s the point? Well, sure, TV wants to get the geek-cool ruboff of this blog thing. But I think it’s good that they’re also promoting these new voices: The more the better. Have they found the right way to do it? Not yet.
MSNBC has talked about having a blog reporter and then having bloggers on to have actual opinions. I think may end up being a good way to go.
This week, MSNBC’s Connected had me on not do the blog report — I’ll miss that question: ‘What’s happening in the blogosphere, BlogDaddy?’ — but instead to have actual opinions about the news media and the internet.
I think we’ll end up with a hybrid: Blog reports do give a fresh breeze of vox pop on the air. Bloggers as guests get to bring new perspectives and voices to TV (and radio and print). And what I still want to see is citizens creating their own reports and commentary — vlogs, podcasts, whatever — and getting those on the air.
: Ed Cone comments here… without the cam.
