8/02/2006

what did andy ho said about bloggers and journalists?

Andy Ho's article in the Straits Times, 'Blogging's more than idle chatter' was not meant to be. According to Andy, Journalists tend to be professional and accurate and also analyse issues of public concern. Bloggers' main obligation is to be interesting. I may agree that Journalists tend to be accurate on selective news that they chose to print or not to print. Bloggers may or may not be accurate but also selectively chose to print or not to print. Hard to tell the difference actually. As for the second part on analysing issues, I think this has since been compromised as Journalists are now expected to be circumscribed on the issues they are championing. But as Andy went on, his views of Bloggers started to veer away. This is what he said. 'As a result, much of what bloggers offer is either misinformed, self indulgent opinion or thoughtful but unargued ones.' I think journalists too are often misinformed or intentionally misinformed, and definitely self indulgent and self opinionated. And as for being thoughtful and publishing a well argued case against an unargued one by the bloggers, I do not see how a case is well argued when it is a monologue whereby the journalist argued against himself with his own selective questions and answers. Other than simple factual reportings, I would submit that many professional pieces published by Journalists are also biased, opinionated pieces. And worst, many are so distorted that truth has taken on a different meaning.

3 comments:

Abao said...

Anything that is presented by journalists are views on an event, on going or not. As it is a view, it will tend to be biased no matter how accurate the journalist may try to put it.

That article really pissed me off when I read it

Chua Chin Leng aka redbean said...

it is amazing for him to think that what he wrote is objective and devoid of subjectivity. probably he thinks that journalists are androids.

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