PR Newswire’s “Blogging vs. the Mainstream Media”

PR Newswire‘s "Blogging vs. the Mainstream Media" event, held last Friday morning at the Hotel Sofitel in Redwood City, was definitely worthwhile. Panelists included Tony Perkins from AlwaysOn Network, Christopher Alden from Rojo Networks, Rob Hof from BusinessWeek, Dan Gillmor from Grassroots Media, and David Whelan from Forbes. Tony Perkins and Dan Gillmor were seated next to each other, allowing the audience to rubberneck a guaranteed collision of worldviews.

Chris Alden led the discussion, asking the other panelists questions such as:

Is mainstream media complacent about blogging?
Can bloggers do primary reporting?
Can blogs produce a mob mentality?
Do blogs reflect or shape public opinion?
Who are the influencers of the blogosphere?
How can a company deal with news leaks coming from its employees’ blogs?
What makes a high-quality blog?

Tony Perkins came out as a strong advocate of blogging. He described blogging as a form of social networking and noted that the blogging improves web site "stickiness," citing an increase in average site visit length from three minutes to twelve. He also noted that while Red Herring had access to the minds of investors for ten years, one must now read blogs to achieve the same perspective. Later, Tony said that to compete with blogs, mainstream media publications such as the New York Times and others will need to "come out from behind the puritanical mask of objectivity," and that blogging offers a free market exchange of information where the "phony facts" repeated over and over by the mainstream media can be examined and challenged in a public forum.

Dan Gillmor, while suggesting that readers "turn up the BS meter" for blogs, predicted that blowhards and other axe-grinders trying to pass off their opinions as news or insightful analysis in any medium will be "outed" by bloggers.

David Whelan of Forbes offered some "gentle skepticism" about blogs, saying that the medium has a "packaging problem," and that readers relying on blogs for news "might miss something."

Rob Hof admitted that within the mainstream media culture, it’s still more prestigious to write for print rather than online publications. However, the distinction is fading as more content is distributed through both print and online media.

The panelists also discussed the relative value of pitching news to mainstream publications, such as the New York Times, vs. releasing it into the blogosphere via blogs such as Slashdot. While the panelists expressed opinions on both sides of the issue, they seemed to agree that a few of the most popular blogs will take on some of the characteristics of mainstream media outlets.

The meeting was recorded, but PR Newswire has not yet provided a link. I’ll post it here when I get it.