Contrary to some reports, Herself and I did make it down to the Alexander to catch some of the Blog Awards - though the vicissitudes of bedtime cannot be rushed, we opted to come late rather than not come at all. And I’m glad we did, because we got to see something important happen - Shane Hegarty’s win.
We arrived in time to see Rick O’Shea, as smooth as you like, manage to not sound awkward when leaving the stage as compere in order to award the first gong to…himself.
Our timing meant that we missed a chance to chinwag before the gongs were handed out and had to leave before the opportunity to get really, really stupidly drunk in front of hundreds of people with blogs, wifi and cameras presented itself in full bloom. (You could go broke getting drunk at that bar. €14 for two gin and tonics? In the basement of the Alexander? Are you out of your f**king mind? A Bombay martini with two olives, a Mojito and a sparkling water at the Shelbourne would run you less than double that.)
But we did catch some good people get some well-deserved recognition. Like Sinead Gleeson, whose arts crit just gets better and better. And Suzy, who has schooled and scooped most of Dublin’s MSM on the epic of the renegade property solicitor-cum-karaoke star Michael Lynn. And someone who should get more recognition - Damien Mulley - although I suppose Una’s designation “King of the Interwebs” is probably praise enough.
I can understand the judges’ desire to give some (more) love to Twenty Major, though I think this year it was misplaced. Great as it is, I think Maman Poulet broke more ground.
A set of awards is - or can be - a powerful thing in defining a community and its values. Who displays the virtues? Who fails?
The selection of winners also says to those outside of the community, this is what we’re about and why. This is what we need to see more of.
So, to me, the most powerful story out of the Blog Awards was Shane Hegarty and the Irish Times’ Present Tense blog. It was a well-deserved award, but it was more than that. It was a grownup award to give, rejecting the sophomoric tendency to imagine that pissing on the mainstream media validates the efforts of bloggers. Some of whom, it must be said, have a comically overinflated view of their own importance that is the antipode of John Waters’ pathetic primal scream of rage against the realisation that he must now compete with the rabble in opinion-forming.
Waters isn’t just speaking for himself, though. “Blogging” remains a dirty word in media company executive suites (save for the very top of these organisations, who are smart enough to see what’s coming) and most Dublin newsrooms.
Hell, the very idea that a journalist might “crowdsource” a story and credit the crowd is enough to discredit the journalist. A willingnenss to tap into the collective knowledge of dozens of smart, curious, articulate people outside your organisation - even if all of the facts are rechecked and further developed by people inside the organisation - is enough to smear you in Dublin. And there are plenty of spiteful hacks in supposedly quality broadsheets, scumbag gossip-mongers and bargain-basement wannabes willing to use that prejudice for their own ends or those of their bosses. Or powerful advertisers. Trust me.
Anybody who’s been paying attention to the way journalism is going understands that we are at a critical moment in the trade’s development. The word “audience” is changing. Instead of the atomised individual consumer we have active and social users, who are listening to each other as much - if not more than - as they listen to the old trusted authorities of editor, columnist and presenter. Or at least, it’s like sitting in a theatre with other people rather than on your own little island.
The big fight going on inside Irish media organisations is about how to deal with a reality that Ireland’s broadband gap has until now shielded the local mainstream media from and protected its margins. One newspaper’s editor until recently would simply walk out of a room if asked to treat journalists from the paper’s online operation as equals and peers. It’s like the fights the New York Times Digital division was having 10 years ago, and nobody here seems to have bothered to learn the lessons - or even read the Harvard Business Review case study.
The path to survival for the Irish media and media generally isn’t actually that hard to see. We’re seeing it played out in the US right now, as the presidential election thunders on.
Both individual journalists and their employers are trying new things. Techniques that even four years ago were sneered at by bigshots in TV and newspaper executive suites, as “guys in their pajamas”, are now de rigeur. The New York Times and Washington Post live-blog presidential debates and results. Slate’s John Dickerson goes so far as to Twitter. Time Magazine’s lofty uber-reporter Mark Halperin has figured out how to write for a long-lead publication but remain relevant - vital - to the daily conversation via his blog, even deciding it is occasionally the place to break stories. Andrew Sullivan literally can’t stop blogging for The Atlantic (though at a reported $160,000 a year for his efforts I can’t fault him).
Sarah Carey believes that it’s the MSM that will break news and “blogs” will be this lesser thing: “blogs will always be the dessert rather than the main course.” That’s true, only insofar as those categories remain meaningful.
But what we’re seeing, right now, is MSM journalists in many cases putting out the first, half-formed, spiky, unfiltered and opinionated version via a blog, followed by the same journalist or colleagues posting a more traditional news story a bit later on the main website, followed by a couple of other iterations before the dead-tree version appears. (Though even that, incredibly, isn’t sometimes the last word - defined as the story that winds up in Lexis-Nexis or the paper’s archive.) Some blogs may be dessert, but blogs by journalists have the capacity to be a really tantalising appetiser — and hey, add a few together and I could make a whole meal outta those starters.
This seems counter-intuitive. Aren’t the journalists then cannibalising their own stuff, or wasting material they could use later in a book?
Out at RTÉ recently, Nuala O Faolain - herself a devoted and perceptive observer of this year’s amazing US campaign - complained that there would be no “Boys on the Bus” big-book accounts of this election. I think she’s wrong, I think there will be more than one important book to come out of the race. But more importantly, those sort of insights, that behind-the-scenes, what’s really going on, here are the journos’ own biases laid bare now judge for yourself is happening not two years after the next president is sworn in but in real time. For some it’s been a godsend - who could have imagined the long-lead New Republic having such an influence on the daily conversation, or for a chance to really show how the sausage gets made? For others, like poor Paul Krugman, it seems to have had an effect not unlike that on John Waters - the prospect of the untermenschen empowered to challenge their institutionally-invested authority pushing embittered men of a dying era straight over the edge.
By adopting blogging and embracing - passionately - all of the new tools they can get their hands on, the American media (particularly its more thoughtful end) is having a rennaissance as it covers this election. (Not hurt by the fact that they’ve got better material with which to work a narrative.) And the result, so far, has been a dramatic increase in the paticipation and sophistication (White American voters won’t vote for a black man, Niall O’Dowd? F*ck you.) of the American voter, particularly younger voters, in a way that seemed impossible 10 years ago. And still seems impossible to some, particularly some of these people.
The US elite media’s embrace of blogging (and all the related tools) has been good for the media and good for the people it serves.
Back here in Ireland, there’s nothing like that acceptance or understanding. We have mindless prejudice mixed with naked fear of annihilation in some media. We have mindless bashing of decent hardworking journalists lumped in with the dross from some cyber-utopians who delude themselves into thinking that merely because they’re amateurs (the sort who made Andrew Keen possible - thanks for that) they’re somehow superior analysts to national treasures like Brendan Keenan or Miriam Lord (and can I please have an RSS feed of her byline, Irish Times? Thanks.) And we have some truly cringe-making attempts, years-out-of-date, to report on the whole phenomenon (RTÉ.ie is the best blog in Ireland? I don’t get the joke.).
If you like quality journalism and good writing, and if you believe a well-informed citizenry is the bedrock of democratic politics, you want to see the Irish media make its own transition to the new world. Why shouldn’t we have the ascerbic Miriam Lord and the dyspeptic Twenty Major, the singular wisdom of Brendan Keenan and the collective wisdom of The Property Pin?
Some of the old brands will survive and thrive. New ones may emerge. But in the end it will be a much more vibrant and authentic conversation than what’s been available here for so long. Progress begins with people like Shane Hegarty winning the arguments in their own newsrooms and their own staffrooms that what they’re doing is consequential. Oh, and getting paid properly for the effort.
So well done, judges. And well done, Shane.
Congrats to all the winners:
* Best Popculture blog - Sponsored by Weeno.ie
* Best Blog from a Journalist - Redfly Marketing
Present Tense - Shane Hegarty
* Best Food/Drink Blog -
* Best Crafts Blog - thisisknit.ie
* Best Arts and Culture Blog - Poetry Ireland
* Best Political Blog - Revolution
* Best Group Blog - SalesJobs.ie
* Best Use of the Irish Language in a Blog - Edgecast
* Best Technology Blog/Blogger - Bitbuzz
* Best Designed Blog - Buckley
Sabrina Dent
* Best Sport & Recreation Blog - Boards.ie
* Best News/Current Affairs Blog -
Joint winners
The Limerick Blogger
and
Maman Poulet
* Best Specialist Blog - iq Content
The Voyage
* Best Newcomer - Edelman
* Best Business Blog - FirstPartners
* Best Music Blog - DownloadMusic.ie
* Special Recognition Award
Simon McGarr from Tuppenceworth.ie and Ryan from Rymus
* Best Personal Blog - Microsoft
Joint Winners
And
* Most Humorous Post - Glandore
Twenty Major - Tonight’s Debate
* Best Photo Blog - Pix.ie
* Best Blog Post - LouderVoice
Fatmammycat.com - Fox hunting, horses and a girl’s awakening
* Best Blog - Putplace
Sphere: Related Content
10 responses so far ↓
1 Dan Sullivan // Mar 4, 2008 at 6:10 pm
I’m giving a talk tomorrow on blogging to baby journos in UL, I will refer to this if that’s OK?
2 Damien Mulley » Blog Archive » Fluffy Links - Wednesday March 5th 2008 // Mar 5, 2008 at 5:11 am
[...] And then Richard has a nice piece too on the state of journalism in this country and blogs. [...]
3 Eoin Purcell // Mar 5, 2008 at 7:39 am
Richard,
It funny what tone can do. In many ways, your post is like Kathy’s column in the Sunday Times though I doubt yours will attract too much in the way of resistance.
Thanks by the way for putting into words my amazement at the likes of The Atlantic and The New Republic embracing blogging. It has been fascinating to watch and read them almost reinvent themselves while keeping their magazines vibrant and relevant too!
Eoin
4 [ Irish KC ] » Kansas City Irish Festivals, Music, Pubs, & Events by an Artist in Ireland » Review: Irish Blog Awards 2008 // Mar 5, 2008 at 9:43 am
[...] By Fakey: Irish Blog Awards, an understanding of disappointment • By Richard: Thoughts on the Irish Blog Awards & the future of media • By Brian: Cue Blog Awards Music • And also by [...]
5 Niall Kitson // Mar 5, 2008 at 11:23 am
In defence of MSM journalists I would have to raise the point that most are freelance. Staff jobs and media outlets are thin on the ground in Ireland so the American model doesn’t apply here.
If, as a freelancer, I were to come across a story I wouldn’t blog about it for free then make a pitch, it’s financial suicide. Source - pitch - write - get paid - repeat. You can develop a conscience when you can afford to.
As an editor I need to be convinced of the quality of any new contributor’s writing. A blog is good for showing a range of interests but there’s no substitute for seeing a work that someone paid for.
If you work for the Guardian fine, if you’re retained by the Indo/Times on a decent wage, work away. If you’re eeking out a living working freelance forget about blogging. The market just won’t make it worth your while.
6 Sean P. Brady // Mar 5, 2008 at 3:02 pm
Niall says “staff jobs” are thin on the ground in Irish media. No they are not. I know loads of journalists who insist the workforce is full of constant movement, with loads of opportunity for eager and good reporters.
Take business journalism for instance, From his tenure in the Sunday Tribune as Business Editor, Richard, I am sure, will confirm that there’s a shortage of business reporters to fill positions rather than a big surplus of hacks who can’t get work.
7 Sinéad // Mar 5, 2008 at 11:36 pm
Richard, thanks for the kind words. Sorry we didn’t get to cross paths on the night.
I have the best intentions of replying to so many Awards related posts (including ones on my own blog) but I seem to be disproportionately time poor this week and have yet to roll up my sleeves and get typing.
8 Sean P. Brady // Mar 7, 2008 at 10:53 am
Richard’s comments above and Ms Foley’s of the Sunday Times open up an interesting question — is Irish blogging relevant within Irish media at this moment? — which is partly answered by the number and quality of comments attached to both original blogs.
Perhaps can partly answer this question not with reference to the views of bloggers themselves — who will unboubtably have an inflated sense of both their ability as writers/commentators and their relevance — but with reference to their audience.
Take Harry McGee’s blog, for instance. Mr McGee is a respected journalist and commentator on radio and television. He has worked as a correspondent for the Sunday Tribune when it was under the tutelage of Matt Cooper, the Irish Examiner and the Irish Times and is a former editor of Magill when that magazine was itself relevant within the news media.
It would be fair to say, with little disagreement, that he is among the upper echelons of Irish bloggers insofar as he has an expertise that he can bring to the blog; is an excellent writer; and has a national profile outside of his blog.
Since his blog began in 2006 it has had over 19,000 ‘hits’. This compares with over 1 million people who read the Sunday Independent on a weekly basis and, to extrapolate, something akin to over 80 million hits for the Sunday Independent since Mr McGee’s blog itself began.
This is not to say that Irish blogs should see Irish newspapers as their competitors per say, but to illustrate the influence of one over the other.
One other measure of the Irish blogsphere is the quality of the bloggers themselves and their actual relevance to the subject(s) they choose to discuss.
What is perhaps most revealing about the Irish blog scene is that there is a paucity of bloggers on what may be called ‘the inside track’. There are many ‘commentators’ but few ‘actors’.
Take politics, for insance. Ciaran Cuffe is one of the few elected public representatives to blog and though some of his outpourings have been interesting, particularly his reaction to the civil unions issue and media coverage of the story, there is no revelations on his blog that are both exclusive to the blog and that illustrate the inside track of political life. It is, in effect, little more than a webpage with press releases as such and a bit of comment.
There are no top Irish political spin-doctors here who blog; no government advisors; no heads of corporations on government boards; no disgruntled former party executive members; and no disgraced politicians caught with their pants down who have decided to put their names to a blog and let forth with both barrels.
Essentially, what Irish blogging may need to make it engaging and relevant, are no-holes barred blogs by the likes of a Frank Dunlop or Feargus Flood.
Instead we get commentators who quite wisely use their most sage comments for their newspaper commentary. There are even some who do no more than reproduce on their blog the feature and opinion articles that they wrote for their newspaper.
What is very interesting also, is that even though many Irish bloggers are people who skirt around the fringes of mainstream media (and while many are not, some are very creditable journalists with a proven track record in print and broadcast) there is still no blog from an established journalist who blogs with ruthless abandon on the subject they should know best: how the Irish media works and what’s really happening behind the scene.
There is no Irish journalist who blogs under their own name and reveals the little gems of gossip and intrigue that are known inside the media fraternity but not without.
So despite all the journalists who blog, there is not a single blog which has come close to challenging the Phoenix - a bi-weekly dead tree magazine - as the lowdown on the Irish media scene.
To this end, blurred keys makes an effort but it rarely rises above the level of posing questions that are quite often already many ages in the domain of public discussion, ie. ‘Does the Sunday Tribune have a future?’ (the Phoenix has posed and tried to answer this question on a near-monthly basis for a decade).
Of course this is to presume that there are sufficient numbers of quality print journalists here who could perform such an online task. We would make a mistake to presume that just because there are journalists in the USA and Britain who blog on the inside track on their industries that it could be replicated here.
There is a strong argument to be made that we lack the scale for excellence in this field, as well as most other categories of Irish blogging.
For instance, if one were to attempt to become a top journalist in America — and attempt to get staff work with the Washington Post or the LA Times — one would have to be better than tens of thousands of other aspirant local newspaper reporters to get the job.
By contrast, to become a national news journalist in Ireland, one has just to be competent, avoid disaster long enough, and be available to do work shift-work on a daily tabloid newspaper and progress one’s career from there.
If one can extend this presumed low-threshold of standards to Irish blogging then we may have to face the fact that the most we can aspire to is mediocrity in the standard of blog writing/editing and with an absence of incisive ‘insider’ knowledge, which may compare well with the domestic product but pales in comparison to the best on the world wide web.
9 Niall Kitson // Mar 7, 2008 at 12:32 pm
Sean raises some great points in relation to inside track writers - in particular why spin doctors are keeping their thoughts to themselves.
In a sense though he already answered his own question. In a small market keeping the head down can be the only way to career progression - especially when there are so few employment options (and I have to maintain there are but we’re in ‘agree to disagree’ territory there).
I think we don’t have much inside track blogging because a lot of people who do a) don’t know/care about blogging and b) they get paid a lot for their opinions.
There’s no getting away from the commercial realitites of having such a small market. For a lot of pundits gatekeeping is a way of life. If you want to stick your head above the parapet do it with a financial safety net. Our bloggers can’t live off good intentions and google adwords.
Just look at what jappened with Kenneth Anger - different medium but there’s a lot to be gleaned from his experience.
10 Sean P. Brady // Mar 7, 2008 at 3:39 pm
I’m with you all the way Niall, more succinct than my 20 pars.
I’ll do more than agree to disagree on my opinion regarding staff job opportunities in Irish journalism: in the interim since my relevant post I made enquiries off a few journo staffer friends and they did correct my belief with the major caveat that most ‘opportunities’ really only exist in any plentiful way if you’re starting off in the trade; are willing to make yourself available for potentially unreliable shift-work in a tabloid; and can afford for it to go arse-up and you’re not burdened by a mortgage or other bills that cannot be avoided by sleeping on your mate’s floor.
If you have what my journo buddies called an ‘area’ , ie. tech journo, etc, then not only is it difficult to find a staff job but it can be hard to move within the media.
Anyway, on a complete aside, and I know this is perhaps opening a distracting and new vein of only partly related discussion, but I would greatly like to know people’s Irish JOURNALIST who they’d like to see blogging (who isn’t already doing it).
I have an experiment in mind that I won’t reveal until people get their answers in.
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