Chris Bowers has once again pronounced his annual Last Rites over us po' dumbass amateur bloggers who haven't come under the protective wing of some kindly madam at one of the professional knocking shops.
Amateur blogosphere, RIPAnd then followed that up with this especially yummy UPDATE the next day for those of us who were too thick to understand that THE KOOL KIDS KLUB IS KLOSED already, so quit ringing the fucking doorbell:
by: Chris Bowers
Thu Jun 03, 2010 at 14:17
Update: There is now a follow-up to this article, providing more context, qualification and clarity. You can here it here.
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Today the New York Times announced that it will incorporate fivethirtyeight.com into the NYT website:This summerThe New York Times will incorporate the political blog FiveThirtyEight into the political news section of NYTimes.com. Blogger, polling expert and founder of FiveThirtyEight Nate Silver will continue to oversee the blog and will also be a regular contributor to The New York Times and to The New York Times Sunday Magazine.
Only five years ago, the progressive political blogosphere was still predominately a gathering place for amateur (that is, unpaid or barely paid) journalists and activists unattached to existing media companies and advocacy organizations. Those days are almost completely over. Now, the progressive blogosphere is almost entirely professionalized, and inextricably linked to existing media companies and advocacy organizations.
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5. New voices will still emerge, but only within the professionalized context: Undoubtedly, new voices will still emerge from the hobbyist world. However, when they do those bloggers will emerge within established, professionalized blogs in order too attract an audience in the first place (hell, this was already the case by 2006, as I discussed in my first ever article on Open Left), Further, these new voices will have to become professionals themselves in order to sustain their efforts over the long-term.
Of course, down through the years, Mr. Bowers has delivered this same "We Regret To Inform You Little People That You Are Dead" telegram several times, and several times others have disputed with his wisdom (Me, from February 2007. Jill from "Brilliant at Breakfast" from August, 2007. CorrenteWire from a few days ago. Blue Gal from February, 2007)
See, according to Bowers' insidiously self-fulfilling and epistemically closed analysis, amateur blogging is eerily like the last episode of "Lost": years pissed away on a desert island, and in the end it turned out we were dead all along and just never knew it.
Man, I just hate it when I wake up all dead and shit.
I imagine this is also going to come as a huge shock to the Netroots Nation people, seeing as how there is no long any such thing: nope, nothing left of the Left anymore but Insiders, Applicants and Supplicants.
So, here lies Amateur Blogging:
"Lector, si monumentum requiris, circumspice"
4 comments:
"...only within the professionalized context: Undoubtedly, new voices will still emerge from the hobbyist world. However, when..."
"the hobbyist world"...
What an insufferable, patronizing shithead.
Your regular readers/listeners will continue to do what we can to keep you paid. We know how you feel about it; personally I hope you also derive satisfaction from the fact that many, many people truly appreciate what you and other genuine bloggers do.
Words such as those above are not only a grave insult to you, but to your readers as well. They attempt to piss on the relationship between us. Please don't let them.
I happen to have known for many years the guy who coined the word 'weblog':
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jorn_Barger
http://robotwisdom.tumblr.com/
http://www.google.com/reader/shared/14569541748422553908
(He lived around chicago for many years.) He lives in poverty like a monk, and never made a dime at it. He's still blogging balls off pissants like Chris Bower. (...like who the fuck is Chris Bower...)
Keep fighting the good fight. We're rootin' fer ya.
Drifty,
Sometimes I think the indomitable spirit of Mike Ryoko controls your fingers at the keyboard.
Or possibly Steve Gilliard's presence? (Oh how I miss his voice!)
Suffice it to say, while I may not toss in my 2 cents, I read it all. And with much more gusto than anything put out by Bowers (who's he?) or my morning fishwrapper.
Keep up the good fight, comrade!
SP
PS -- and the amazing photoshops!
"White-collar 'Professional Bloggerman' flashin' down the street,
pointing his plastic finger at me,
hoping that soon my kind will drop off and die...
...Point on, Mr. Bloggerman; you can't write like me."
Bags of fuck like Bowers simply can't comprehend that some of us would rather hammer rusty nails through our fucking dicks than turn into a ridiculous "professional blogger" motherfucking douchebag like him.
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