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Wither blogging in 2008?

From LiteraryMinded's website [blog? - see post] reporting on the just-concluded Melbourne Writers Festival:

"Margaret Simons, John Quiggin and Antony Loewenstein celebrated new media in 'Where Are the Gatekeepers'. Loewenstein took this on from the point of view of his travels in The Blogging Revolution - that the internet brings power to the voices of ordinary folk and dissidents in repressive regimes. I'll be posting my review of this wonderful book and interview with Loewenstein soon. Simons, who writes for Crikey and authored The Content Makers was also adamant that the internet revolution was inevitable and that print news was going to have to adapt. She thought that social networking was essential as the democratic element in this new culture - 'social networking is very serious indeed'. All three, I will point out, did not see the print publicaton as having to fade out - but that it must adapt to exist. Loewenstein said on this point that he was amazed at the way the mainstream media still only offered one viewpoint (eg. of the invaders of Iraq, without talking to an Iraqi for a balanced viewpoint). John Quiggin, a daily blogger, says the misuse of the gatekeeper function in print is being challenged by bloggers, who most of the time aren't answering the interests of a corporation and can even rip the mainstream 'news' apart. Another strong argument of theirs was that while there may be a proliferation of 'crap' online, it is an elitist argument that 'youth' are being dumbed-down by this culture. Because everyday life has 'crap' and it's just that it is visible and in-your-face online. Those that have grown up in this environement, they argue, are easily able to filter out the crap and bookmark what they enjoy, helped often by social-networking friends with similar interests, or via blogrolls. Simons also raised the point that the word'blog' was becoming inadequate for the sheer amount of different material it was covering. For example, I have started to call mine a 'litblog' when I talk to people, because there is a subculture of literary-themed blogs, and it differs from the personal or political (while still having elements of both). So I thought that was a very valid point she made. The problem to face for news and political reportage, is how journalism (paid, researched) journalism expects to survive, but all panelists were positive that people have always been hungry for news, and a model will be found."

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