Things I learned

Good question Jay, it's much more interesting than asking us to describe the experience.

Here's what I learned.

When I read Jon Bonne's writings about blogs and amateurs, flames come shooting out the top of my head. But when I listen to him talk, face to face, I find him to be a thoughtful, considerate, inquisitive person.

I had never heard a managing editor of the New York Times speak, but I have of course heard many NYT reporters. Now I know where they get attitude, it must be cultivated, ingrained, learned. If I had some advice to offer a publication I have so much respect for, it would be to do something serious to wipe the smile off their faces. That's what the mainframe guys needed to do. That's where you went wrong wrt blogging, the fear of the NYT reporter was translated immediately into dismissive arrogance. Hey it didn't make us go away. Go figure.

I learned that we bloggers don't see eye to eye on important things. I had never spent so much time in a room with David Weinberger. Every time he said that most bloggers aren't news people, I said to myself "So,,,?" Most people who use the telephone aren't news people either, but the telephone certainly had a big impact on news (ask Reuters).

When someone says "We will always..." you can sure we won't always.

I learned that someday the op-ed page of the NY Times may be open to us. That would be something. One by one I've lost all respect for all the op ed writers except Krugman, even William Safire, who, unlike thoughtful Republicans, was willing to push Bush's lies. I agree with Krugman's analysis, some things are true, and it's not balanced journalism to open them for debate, things like the shape of the earth, whether we know there are WMDs, and others. Safire has used the good name of the Times to reduce knowledge not increase it. This matters to me, as a lifetime Times reader.

Never have I been more certain that centralized media is an artifact of the 20th century. I'm not here to tell you what you want to hear, my job is to tell you what I think. Study technology, study Moore's Law, see what happened to previous layers of communications that bet on things staying the same. They're not around to argue their point of view. Concrete door-opening is what's called for, for the professional news organizations. Look for places where you relax your rules, your op-ed pages, "news" shows like Scarborough, places where you don't try to be like Frontline, and let some of us in. I love Trippi, but come on, he's not a blogger.

Anyway...

I learned that Jimmy Wales is one cool guy. I would have shit in my pants had I been challenged the way the MSNBC guy challenged him. And the MSNBC guy (don't remember his name) should watch his manners. Personal statements like those don't belong in a forum like this. But the room didn't melt down, thanks to skillful moderation by Alex Jones.

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