That Blogging Thang

Oh, my. I'm listening to the start of today's 10:00am segment of These Days about blogging ("short for web. log. ...") and I think I may either crack up or get annoyed. (Oooh... those whacky bloggers! Now we have to take them seriously!) I haven't decided yet.

Update: Oh, it's an interview with the guy who wrote the annoying Times article and who thinks Wonkette is funny. Here's hoping a caller or two delivers a cluesticking.

Update 2: So far, what the guy has to say about (political) blogs is pretty interesting, like his observation that most "successful bloggers" have a family connection to academia or are themselves comfortable with research. The continual conflation of political blogging with blogging more generally is grating, however.

Update 3: The next interviewees are on: one of the folks from The Gadflyer and Indipundit. What'cha bet they continue the conflation?

Update 4: Well, now I feel a bit insulted. Apparently a well-designed site is a sign of one's seriousness, and runs counter to the idea that an "ordinary" blog would have a "rag-tag" appearance. Pfft. Yeah, I'm using a basic typepad template, but I have tweaked it and could tweak it more if I really wanted to. And the idea that one can only have a "professional quality" weblog if you have a paid site designer to make it look good... rrrgh. What self-congratulatory snobs.

Update 5: Oh, grump. So far the only people who have called in (or spoken, period!) have been male poli-bloggers (plus the male interviewer). *eyes narrow*

Update 6: Still no women (yeah, I know talk radio tends to favor male callers, but public radio is usually a bit more balanced) and still everyone's talking only about blogging as poli-blogging. And now they've continued the conflation by offering a snapshot of "typical bloggers" -- who are, as typical for that small subset, male, white, educated. Feh.

Update 7: I think I am going to have to write a scathing email to the host. Still nothing but men and poli-blogging.

Comments

[Jill Smith]

Go get 'em, Rana! I'll co-sign that e-mail if you like!

[Rana]

I already sent it. But here's their contact info:

thesedays@kpbs.org

[Rudbeckia Hirta]

Be careful what you wish for! They might bring back Gloria Penner! AAaiiiiiiiiggghh! (She was the most annoying host that These Days ever had.)

[Rana]

Oh, I don't mind a male host per se (or even this one, usually). It just seemed weird that the phone sample was so skewed, in conjunction with the interviewees. It really seemed like the host had gotten it into his head that "blogger = atrios" or similar, and couldn't even imagine anything other than that, and so didn't do anything to compensate.

[Elayne Riggs]

All you need to do is point them at What She Said!, the blog that Morgaine Swann created to highlight female political bloggers. As for that weirdness about design - when half the folks around use newsreaders to read blogs rather than clicking on the blogs themselves, individual blog design is even less important than it used to be in relation to actual substance...

[Jill Smith]

Of course, having just watched our TiVo-ed recording of last night's "Daily Show" and saw Ed Helms filing a pre-written report about the debates, filled with the expectations of what will happen. Jon Stewart asked, "But what if actual news occurs, Ed?"

"That's what bloggers are for!"

[bitchphd]

"Ordinary looking" blogs mean someone is more interested in content than form.

Of course, I don't really mean that, as a lot of the blogs I really like are very pretty indeed. But it's certainly a case that could be made.