Blogs: a terrible one-way street channel of communication

Hans Kullin has generously blogged his notes from a debate on 'citizen journalism – threat or opportunity', hosted by the Swedish journalist union, and once again one of those issues where parts of the Swedish press is seriously confused raised its ugly (or ridiculous) head: the controversy over Sweden's blogging foreign minister, who has been likened to Hugo Chavez for using a 'one-way street' channel of communication.

Kullin reports: Pnina Yavari Molin from the new media section of Swedish tabloid Expressen "was worried that journalists are losing their 'monopoly' as opinion leaders and told of an example from Göteborgs-Posten where Sweden's foreign minister Carl Bildt refused to answer questions from a journalist and instead wrote a comment to the article on the site [his blog]."

I guess that is somewhat reminiscent of the recent debate about A-list bloggers who'd rather blog answers to journalists' question, or conduct the interviews via email. Should disintermediation be the sole privilege of bloggers?

Comments

[Dave Winer]

There is no answer to your last question because a blogger is like a phone user. It's just a way to communicate, not a profession, imho.

The prime minister who blogs is no different from the software developer who blogs (that's me, btw).

We may have things to say, if the press doesn't help us say them, why shouldn't we say them ourselves?

[Kristine]

Yes, it was a bit flippant that question. Not to mention illogical: a blogging minister is still a blogger.

I should perhaps rephrase it, but in essence I'm just fascinated by how blogs, like other technological innovations before them, change the way we communicate - as well as the rules of engagement.

As a journalist I would of course not be very happy with an interviewee blogging his or her answers: I mean, so much for exclusivity. Besides, trust is important to me, and accuracy is a matter of professional pride.

However, if I was faced with a situation where a mob of reporters all bombareded me with the same questions, I can imagine myself seeing blogging the answers as the only sensible option.