Are Blogs Destroying Journalism?

As I was revisiting Artie Lange's incredible destruction of Joe Buck's show, I remembered a controversial clip from Buck's HBO predecessor, Bob Costas, about a segment on his show detailing sports blogs, and how they blur the line, (and I'm paraphrasing) "truth and rumor" and "commentary and insult." (video HERE)

Costas was joined on this panel by then-Deadspin editor and founder Will Leitch, Journalist Buzz Bissinger, and New York Jets wide receiver Braylon Edwards. It started out as a serious discussion about the rise of sports blogs, and the positives and negatives that come as a result of this rise. Buzz Bissinger however, came to start a fire, and he immediately tries to burn the entire house down.

Bissinger's main point is simple, Leitch is not a journalist. In a world where the lines of journalism, Bissinger doesn't believe Leitch is qualified to pose as a journalist in a forum in which he can. Leitch on the other hand defends his work, essentially saying that while blogs are inherently democratic, it takes work to maintain a blog.

Costas also brings up posts on the comment page in regards to a journalist leaving ESPN and posters insulting the journalist. Yet, as I posted last week, NJ.com, a legitimate source of news that feeds stories from the Star-Ledger and other newspapers, allows comments on their stories and consequently, people leave comments that some may determine to be inappropriate. So I think Costas doesn't have a point. If he want to blame Leitch, he should first blame legitimate news sources, starting with Costas' own employer, NBC sports.

For my part, I sympathize with Bissinger. Agree or not with his behavior, Bissinger is a legitimate journalist, who wrote the book that would become the TV show Friday Night Lights. He spent thirty-plus years working his craft, only to see a new medium emerge to push his medium out of the spotlight, his medium being the newspaper.

While I don't agree with his assessment that blogs are dedicated to "cruelty," I certainly agree with his concern about the lines blogs blur. There are journalists, and then there are people posing as journalists, and Leitch desires to be the newsman without following the guidelines newsmen need to follow. For example, regarding bias, Leitch is a fan of the St. Louis Cardinals. While there is nothing wrong with that, there's something wrong with openly admitting it and putting a spin on any news that involves the Cardinals.

Blogs are based on speed. Therefore, I do think the quality will go down. However, among the positives are blogs is that it's no longer just Bissinger writing on sports; it's Bissinger and the Jets fan sitting in the 15th row of the upper deck at the Meadowlands.

It's a wonderful advancement, but what needs to happen is the line between the blogosphere and the world of journalism must be clearly defined. Otherwise, we will see our news decline in quality, as Bissinger predicted.