There seems to be an almost natural rivalry between online and tactile. It was music that was, and still is, the flag bearer for that debate. There are as many camps as there are aspirants for the Iron Throne. Vinyl enthusiasts, streaming music channels or live at a club all vie for attention.
The same hold true for print versus online if you want to go for the adversarial paragraph opener. I was reading through some wine blogs (which beer bloggers should do to both hone their game and see a wider world) and I came across this:
My take on print vs. online media is that print’s business model screwed the pooch a long, long time ago. It has nothing to do with wine and is happening in every form of print media on any subject matter. People enjoy interactions and opinion, and are seeking to balance straight-ahead, mostly-objective, fact-based coverage (which for decades has been the bread-winner for print) with subjective, opinion-based, op-ed-style pieces that by-and-large center on the unique voice of the writer. In other words, nowadays people will take a human relationship and a sense of personal trust over a pronouncement of facts (or even opinion) as deigned from an expert.
It was from 1 Wine Dude and I found myself toggling back and forth as to whether I agree or not.
I believe the debate has been about what people want covered and how they want it covered. And I think a mixture of fact based journalism and opinion are what is needed. And as much as music, movies, TV and newspapers couldn’t straddle online and off, they are still uniquely positioned to deliver that content.
But I also think that blogs can deliver as well and that print and blogs could both do it without partisan rancor. It comes down to one word: recognition.
I am not talking about badges and ribbons for participation. There are two missed opportunities for recognition that I think mesh for this topic.
First, recognizing who the other person is. This happens to be something that print seems to miss with two hands and a flashlight. If I may stereotype an entire group of people, what I hear most about bloggers is that they are not journalistic enough. With the implication that, journalists are better and that you should all want to be them one day.
The point that is missed is that beer bloggers (again in general) are not journalists and don’t want to be. Most have a 9-5 and a life and blog on the side. They are not trained in writing or web design or want/ have an editor that is not a significant other. When journalists can accept that or at least recognize it, they will be more secure in their place and the role of bloggers.
Bloggers, on the other hand, could always do with a little added professionalism and a renewed focus on writing. I include myself because I hope to be learning and not stagnant. Journalists and print can help one grow as a blogger. If only for grammar reasons. And if bloggers can recognize that writing is more important than SEO, that would be cool too.
The other shade of recognition is what the strengths and weaknesses are for your chosen delivery method. Don’t blame the Sunday paper for being filled with news you saw hashtagged yesterday. And don’t blame a blog for being visual forward. Just two examples that I have heard recently.
Print and blogs are simply delivery methods. Both may not survive the next technological leap. Or both might. They are not a banner that you rally behind. Each individual needs to find out the best way to say what they want to say, in the way that the say it best. Then look at which way allows them to say that.
Or you can continue to snipe at each other like Lannisters and Starks.
Another 1 Wine Dude link that I think you might find enlightening is HERE.