Yet another subjective column on blogging, this time in last week’s Hill Times. I was irritated enough that I penned this letter to the editor, published yesterday. (The Hill Times is a weekly aimed at the politicians, lobbyists and public servants working around Parliament.)

Re: “If blogging is the future of the 21st century journalism, it warrants closer investigation, let’s take a look,” by Tom Korski.

Web logs (or blogs), as Tom Korski observes, are often dedicated to recipes, personal notes and pictures of babies. Many are unedited, uninformed and unoriginal.

But blogs are not a flash in the pan. While the work of the inane and the irrelevant multiplies by the thousands daily, bloggers from around the world do produce quality analysis, reporting and commentary in countless specialist subjects.

Mr. Korski appears, as many do, to prefer his news and information filtered by editors and credentialled journalists. There is, however, a new generation of news consumers who have grown up choosing among television, print and online media. They view blogs as one more source of opinion or information, to be digested alongside traditional reporting and analysis.

In Canada and abroad, there are many insightful blogs – some penned by current or former journalists – that contribute to the political, social and economic dialogue. That includes David Akin and Paul Wells, whose work Mr. Korski highlighted selectively (and negatively) to buttress his argument.

To close – Mr. Korski makes the point that “web logs are an individual speaker’s corner in which anyone … can harangue on any subject.” The same could be said for, say, a newspaper column such as his.

Colin McKay
Ottawa, Ontario