What you are reading here on the wild, wild Web is referred to as a blog. I call it The Heron’s Nest; most people simply refer to it as a blog. That’s short for web log.
This is a part of today’s journalism. Usually these thoughts of mine do not appear in print. But I try to apply the same guidelines here as I do in print.
I bring this up today because of an item that is currently leaving scorch marks all over the Internet in the Philadelphia area. It involves some comments in another blog that may or may not have been uttered by the wife of Phillies reliver Ryan Madson.
The Phillies are in the midst of one of their hottest starts in memory.
The Flyers have managed to dig themselves a hole by failing to score in their opening Stanley Cup playoff action against the Sabres. The Sixers are prepping for LeBron and company in the NBA playoffs in Miami. And the Eagles – remember them? – are getting ready for their draft.
But that’s not what we’re talking about. Instead we’re talking about comments made by Ryan Madson’s wife.
Why? Because this is what we do these days. Something gets tossed on a blog. It gets picked up by a bigger blog. Soon it goes national, or 'viral,' as they say in the hip, online world in which I now often dwell.
Eventually the so-called mainstream media (whatever the hell that is) picks it up. The item has what we refer to as “legs.”
I am not here to question the journalism – or lack of it – behind the item on Madson’s wife. If you’re going to challenge the ideas of blogs and whether or not they constitute journalism, you’re going to have an uphill fight. That ship has sailed. We all now work in two worlds, print and online.
Blogs aren’t going anywhere. The line between what many of us do every day in print and what we do online is becoming more and more blurred all the time. Today we are joined by anyone with a keyboard and a domain name. Yep, that’s about all it takes to put up a blog.
That’s not my argument. This is: Why do I care what Ryan Madson’s wife may or may nor have said about Phillies fans?
The truth is I don’t. What I care about is what her husband does when he enters the game in the eighth inning. And maybe his suitability to one day become the guy who enters the game in the ninth inning.
Frankly, his wife does not interest me. Neither does anything she has to say about the fans. I have probably said worse myself at times. After all, I’ve been one for about 50 years.
The Phillies felt compelled to issue a statement concerning the blog item yesterday afternoon. Voila! That gives it credibility, and opens the door to coverage from other outlets. Swell.
There is now talk that Madson might get an earful from fans the next time he enters a game at Citizens Bank Park, which could be as early as tonight.
I hope that’s not the case. Then again, I’ve been hoping what I do for a living could somehow survive the onslaught from such online blogging. I'd say both are longshots.
Instead, I sit here and write this blog every morning.
Just know this. If Ryan Madson gets booed because of something his wife may or may not have said, it’s wrong.
At least that’s one man’s opinion. And one man’s blog. And the beat goes on….
This is a part of today’s journalism. Usually these thoughts of mine do not appear in print. But I try to apply the same guidelines here as I do in print.
I bring this up today because of an item that is currently leaving scorch marks all over the Internet in the Philadelphia area. It involves some comments in another blog that may or may not have been uttered by the wife of Phillies reliver Ryan Madson.
The Phillies are in the midst of one of their hottest starts in memory.
The Flyers have managed to dig themselves a hole by failing to score in their opening Stanley Cup playoff action against the Sabres. The Sixers are prepping for LeBron and company in the NBA playoffs in Miami. And the Eagles – remember them? – are getting ready for their draft.
But that’s not what we’re talking about. Instead we’re talking about comments made by Ryan Madson’s wife.
Why? Because this is what we do these days. Something gets tossed on a blog. It gets picked up by a bigger blog. Soon it goes national, or 'viral,' as they say in the hip, online world in which I now often dwell.
Eventually the so-called mainstream media (whatever the hell that is) picks it up. The item has what we refer to as “legs.”
I am not here to question the journalism – or lack of it – behind the item on Madson’s wife. If you’re going to challenge the ideas of blogs and whether or not they constitute journalism, you’re going to have an uphill fight. That ship has sailed. We all now work in two worlds, print and online.
Blogs aren’t going anywhere. The line between what many of us do every day in print and what we do online is becoming more and more blurred all the time. Today we are joined by anyone with a keyboard and a domain name. Yep, that’s about all it takes to put up a blog.
That’s not my argument. This is: Why do I care what Ryan Madson’s wife may or may nor have said about Phillies fans?
The truth is I don’t. What I care about is what her husband does when he enters the game in the eighth inning. And maybe his suitability to one day become the guy who enters the game in the ninth inning.
Frankly, his wife does not interest me. Neither does anything she has to say about the fans. I have probably said worse myself at times. After all, I’ve been one for about 50 years.
The Phillies felt compelled to issue a statement concerning the blog item yesterday afternoon. Voila! That gives it credibility, and opens the door to coverage from other outlets. Swell.
There is now talk that Madson might get an earful from fans the next time he enters a game at Citizens Bank Park, which could be as early as tonight.
I hope that’s not the case. Then again, I’ve been hoping what I do for a living could somehow survive the onslaught from such online blogging. I'd say both are longshots.
Instead, I sit here and write this blog every morning.
Just know this. If Ryan Madson gets booed because of something his wife may or may not have said, it’s wrong.
At least that’s one man’s opinion. And one man’s blog. And the beat goes on….
Comments