Bloggers Never Stop Working

That’s the thing about blogging that occurred to me last night, as we stumbled out of California Adventure — the souls of our feet aching, our psyches bled out, our wallets drained – my thoughts were on the Oscars. Or they were on this other site I’m trying to get launched, or they were on a part of a site that I know needs a lot of work but if it works it will be great. My thoughts on it never end. That either makes me driven or it makes me a maniac. This is one key aspect about blogging that is different from being a journalist.

Journalists don’t have to build things from scratch. They are always getting credit — mostly from so-called PR guys – but really, most people who bag on blogger and praise journalists give the credit for doing the actual reporting. That means they make phone calls, ask questions, write a story, get paid. Lately, many of them have been getting laid off yet the bloggers remain. Why? Because most of us did it before we were making money, and many of us would do it even if we weren’t making money.

Moreover, we do it all — create and maintain the blog, pay for the server, put out content every day. And yet, we are thought of us as parasites who suck the life blood from real journalists. You’d think they’d be happier knowing that someone was taking their story and sharing it with their audience thus the story is read by more people. But no. It doesn’t work that way. It’s THEIR Tonka truck. You can’t play with it.

Do I sound bitter? I guess I do a little bit. I’m a bitter person. I eat bitter for breakfast. No, not really. I don’t really eat breakfast. But I do wish that the journalists would figure out a way to evolve into this new medium so that their loss of a job wouldn’t directly impact the way they treat and write about bloggers.

The beauty of the internet is that it’s like a farmer’s market – you can wander here, wander there – you can pick up an organic apple at one stand, some coffee at another. The mode of the giant supermarket isn’t the way it works online. There is no such thing as one-stop shopping. And what exactly is wrong with that?