The problem described in this post has been fixed thanks to the generous Advance.net and Jeff Jarvis. Thank you everyone, we could not have done it with out you.

# Posted by Jay McCarthy on 4/16/04; 6:08:17 PM - --

Let's start with the basics. When a journalist writes a story, she calls a bunch of experts, and writes down what they say. Then the reporter thinks about what all this means. Maybe she interviews more experts. Maybe she interviews The Man on the Street to find out what it means to The Average Person. And then in the end, she strings together the quotes to make a story. This is an act of journalism. I think we all agree.

Rebecca is correct in saying that this kind of act is rare in the blogosphere, perhaps even unknown. She's correct and she misses the point. No matter how diligent Our Good Reporter is, something is lost in translation. This is observable. Ask any expert who's been interviewed on a subject of any sublety or complexity. The reporter always mangles it. Enter the weblogs. They make it possible for the experts to go direct, without any intermediaries. A person who wants info can now find out what people think without going through the reporter. This is revolutionary. This is what the Internet does to everything it touches.

Is the expert writing his or her expertise publicly without intermediaries journalism? I don't know. I tend to think it is. But that isn't the question I asked.

But no matter what we call it, it's a big deal. Because now we can route around confusion. And god knows we need this, in a world where people think Saddam Hussein bombed the WTC and Iraqi nuclear power plants are being raided in the middle of the night by god knows who.

We need all the help we can get, and can't afford to be picky about where we get it. In that I think Jay and I are in agreement. I don't see why we have to say what blogs aren't and why you need to say it so many times. Is it the kind of thing typewriter users use to say to themselves about personal computers?

# Posted by Dave Winer on 4/16/04; 1:16:16 PM - --