DISQUS

Prentiss Riddle · 1 year ago

I find this a little confusing. The goals of quality, accessibility and usability are laudable and almost always worth keeping in mind, even if one's goal is entertainment rather than information.

However, the best bloggers can, when they choose, meet all of your criteria for a "professionally published" article. Depending on personal preference, good bloggers frequently blow away the typical professional article on one or more of your criteria (I'm thinking of some bloggers' use of original photography or bloggers who put a lot of effort into deep and wide-ranging commentary on references).

Furthermore, not all blogs are focused on breaking news: the most original bloggers are the ones who have unique insight on topics which are not the buzz of the day. In fact, I would argue that the primary value of blogs is not to shorten the news cycle (which is already too short if you ask me) but rather out there in the long tail of specialized topics and perspectives which would never have found their audience in old media.