Blog Consolidation ...

In the US, mainstream TV media is almost completely polarized with the liberal group (CNN, Comedy Central) and the right (Fox, MSNBC) being the major groups. Print media is similarly biased with the NY Times and Wall St. Journal serving as flagships for the respective political blocs.

There was a time, a few months ago, when blogs were being positioned as an unbiased source of news and information that could serve as a credible substitute for mainstream media.

I think the opportunity has passed for bloggers .... Mainstream blogs look no different from mainstream media. These blogs have neatly organized themselves in various sections of the political spectrum. I cant think of one popular blog that caters to people of every political viewpoint. It almost seems like the only successful blogs/news services are the ones that are divisive.

And, inevitably blog consolidation is starting ! (I predicted this a few months ago). I read an article on Business Week that referred to a company that has "purchased" 90 blogs recently and started offering all of them in a single site.

This has advantages for blog owners as it gives them the ability to negotiate better advertising rates with Goliaths such as Google's AdSense. On the other hand however, this is inevitably going to add a dangerous "editorial" component to the content of these blogs.

Maybe we are just destined to have one-sided stories ....

Comments

Anonymous said…
I, personally, see more use of blog aggregating technologies in the future than ever. No amount of consolidation could equal the freedom and choice offered by intelligent aggregating software that knows your preferences.
Guhan said…
yes sir, i do ! and i read ur blog quite regularly.

epdi maan irukka ? long long long time no see or hear !
Anonymous said…
A problem that I see on most web logs is that when somebody with a different viewpoint leaves comments, they're ridiculed mercilessly until they leave..eventually people learn to only read and comment on web logs on their end of the political spectrum. There's no discourse going on. Just people with the same views agreeing with each other.
Ideamani said…
I agree absolutely. Oops, there we go again !

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