Random Thoughts and Brutal Honesty: Journalism vs Blog.

In the midst of a hectic week in which the wonderful world of accounting occupied my time, I could not help but notice the ongoing Journalism vs Blog issue that has stirred up almost every ArmchairGM alum on this site.  This debate was touched up by a douchebag named Buzz Bissinger who chose to rant, rave, moan, whine, and bitch over each and every single blogger.  Isn't it fascinating that this former Putlizer-Prize winning journalist who has been in the business for forty years would provide such a bias and distorted view of what we ArmchairGM alums do on a daily basis?  Obviously, objectivity and critical thinking has disappeared from the brain of Mr Buzz and has been replaced with an immense amount of arrogance and elitism that is nothing short of nauseating.  It's similar to watching the Denver Nuggets play defense.

It is crystal clear to me that Mr Buzz has not done anywhere near the research that garnered him a Pulitzer prize in order to support his completely baseless and laughable argument.  Surely, he has not researched THIS blog.  THE best blog on the information superhighway.   It is also crystal clear that he has an underlying agenda in all of this, so it is quite possible he will not do one iota of research for the fear that he will have to eat crow.  There is no doubt that there are more like Mr Buzz and Bob Costas {who I lost a lot of respect for} who share this view.  But they don't share this view merely because it is their own opinion based on their success with traditional journalism, they also share this view because it is convienent and profitable for them.  In a twisted way, they see blogging as a threat to their convienence and profit.  There's no doubt that there are some big media outlets and newspaper outlets that share this same view for the SAME DAMN REASON. 

What Buzz and Bob and the media at large don't understand is that all bloggers cannot be painted into a corner just like all journalists cannot be painted into a corner.  With this mindset, they are missing a golden opportunity to share and embrace the terrific work of those that are trying to break into the industry itself.   Agent0, MegECass110 and many others on this site have a great desire to make it as journalists.  Their works are proof positive of their desire.  It's the same desire that I'm sure Mr Buzz and Bob Costas and many others had at one time in their life when they were budding journalists.  Buzz also fails to realize that there ARE bloggers on this site and others who are already in the industry as beat writers in local and national newspapers. 

Another case of Buzz not doing his HW.   

Finally, there are bloggers like me:  Die-hard, passionate sports fans who express their viewpoints assuredly and wholeheartedly on this site and others for no other reason than the love of sports.  It brings people together in a society in which there is an abundance of divisiveness.  This divisiveness is evident in Buzz Bissinger when he pits Journalism vs Blogging.  It does not have to be this way.  Excellent journalism and excellent blogging can be embraced just the same by bloggers and journalists alike.  To wrap this article in a bow, i'll give you one of the main reasons that I started blogging in the first place: Besides the fact that I loved sports and writing as a whole and found it natural to bridge the two together in awesome fashion, I was also disatisfied with the sports articles I was reading in Newsday and the Daily News as well as ESPN.com and  other sites.  With the infamous press in New York that puts athletes and coaches under the gun as soon as they sign on the dotted line, the articles almost seemed predictable and ordinary at best and I grew impatient. I viewed overall journalism in sports as lacking and never to be the same again. I joined this site and was immediately drawn to the awesome writing, the passion and the debates and viewpoints.  Naturally, I have written hundreds of articles and gained a greater appreciation for sports as well as the craft.  The cynical mindset that I had towards journalism in the sports world is long gone. Any well-written article that I could get my hands on is either cut-out from the newspaper or saved on my computer.

Now If I can learn, so can Buzz and Bob.