More from Technorati's State of the Blogosphere 2008. This time a few words of note from journalist Dan Gillmor on how we decide who to trust as we become swamped with information from an increasing number of diverse sources:
Dan Gillmor“From a journalistic perspective: Blogging and other conversational media are entering a new phase when it comes to community information needs — they're growing up.
"Traditional media are using these tools to do better journalism, and are beginning to engage their audiences in the journalism.
"Entrepreneurial journalists are finding profitable niches. Advertisers are starting to grasp the value of the conversations, and so on.
"The big issues remain, including the crucial one of trust. Here, too, we're seeing progress.
"The best blogs are as trustworthy as any traditional media, if not more. The worst, often offering fact-challenged commentary, are reprehensible and irresponsible.
"But audiences are learning, perhaps too slowly, that modern media require a more activist approach.
"We need to be skeptical of everything, but not equally skeptical of everything. We need to use judgement, to get more information — and to go outside our personal comfort zones.”
Director, Knight Center for Digital Media Entrepreneurship
Kauffman Professor of Digital Media Entrepreneurship
Walter Cronkite School of Journalism & Mass Communication, Arizona State University
startupmedia.org
