Cybersalon: I'll always be both Daddy's and Mommy's girl

Tonight I'm part of a Berkeley Cybersalon panel that will be asked some bald questions about so-called "big media," blogging and the role of elitism. (Dave Winer quotes Sylvia Paull's email invitation here, including address, nibbles and accessibility to all.)

I've read Moderator Andrew Keen's questions and find myself wondering whether I am always going to feel as though mommy and daddy are fighting. Because I am both a daddy's girl (traditional big media journalist), and a mommy's girl (a blogger). Keen knows how to whip up a panel--or this panelist anyway. He writes via Paull's email:

"Bloggers and podcasters are suspicious of “elitist” big media and view the “democratizing” force of digital technology positively. In contrast, many traditional journalists regard most blogs, wikis and podcasts as amateurish and narcissistic. We wonder if expertise is, by definition, elitist. And we ask if expertise and elitism might indeed be necessary features of a high-quality media."

Since I spoke with Keen on the phone a few weeks ago, I'm pretty sure he's aware of the multiple and contradictory definitions of the word "elite." Given that there are four panelists--John Markoff, Jory Des Jardins, Steve Gillmor and me--and the latter three are journalists who also blog, the conversation about the assumptions in this paragraph should be intense. Especially given Markoff's widely circulated 2003 interview with the Online Journalism Review, which I look forward to asking him about. But first I need to get on the record with my answers to Keen's opening questions:

• Question 1. Is big media elitist?
• Question 2. Do you believe that most blog, wiki and podcasts a[re] amateurish and reflect the increasing narcissism of our electronic media?
• Question 3. Is expertise, by definition, elitist? And if so, are expertise and elitism necessary features of a high-quality media?

To answer these questions I need to back up completely and request that we look at all these questions throught the eyes of the one who matters most: The reader, the poor [expletive deleted because the kids do read my site] reader. Readers who, according the Journalism.org's State of News Media 2005 and 2006, care so much about news and information that we consume it in increasing numbers (although our growth in consumption has dropped). And the younger we are, the more of it we want.

On being both a daddy's girl and a mommy's girl

Question 1. Is big media elitist?

In case you haven't read me before, I've been working in newsrooms to evangelize the editorial value of blogs and conversations with readers at American Lawyer Media | Law.com, the company formerly known as Knight Ridder Digital and Glam Media. To answer this question, I need to acknowledge two definitions of elite (hat-tip: Dictionary.com):

e·lite or é·lite    ( P )  Pronunciation Key  (-lt, -lt) n. pl. elite or e·lites A group or class of persons or a member of such a group or class, enjoying superior intellectual, social, or economic status: “In addition to notions of social equality there was much emphasis on the role of elites and of heroes within them” (Times Literary Supplement). The best or most skilled members of a group: the football team's elite.

I like definition (b). If a person or an organization who values the best or most skilled information and news is an elitist, I hope we all are elitists. As a reader, I want the best information. If all big media were elitist in this way, legal bloggers would have been printed in the nation's leading newspapers long before I launched Law.com's blog network in November 2004. And bloggers would never assert opinions without offering up some fact, some basis in reality to give themselves credibility. Unfortunately, the clubby nature of the first definition (a) has been the downfall of newspapers I love very much.

Here's what I mean when I say that I feel feel as though mommy and daddy are fighting. What I have learned is that Daddy (or big media) is predisposed to value hierarchy and status, or elitism in the negative sense, whereas Mommy (or self-published media) is predisposed to value meritocracy or elitism in the positive sense. Daddy's in trouble because being a member of the club has, over time, become more important than being the top expert at his job--indeed has changed his job. As a result, Daddy's product is no longer always the best-- the most elite by definition (b). Mommy's given him some competition because, thanks to her search tool, she's a smart shopper and can find the best, most detailed expert information on any topic because she can look world-wide, rather than being limited by the club.

But both parents, however much I love them, are snobs and prone to cronyism and shameful blind spots that make me want to move to a remote coastal village and open my own show. Oh wait - Elisa, Jory and I already did that. It's essential for bloggers to keep the reader in mind too and to avoid clubby elitism. As I've said before, here and here.

Since when was media not narcissistic? Why do you think I keep clip books from the 1980s onward?

Question 2. Do you believe that most blog, wiki and podcasts a[re] amateurish and reflect the increasing narcissism of our electronic media?

NO, I do not regard most blogs, wikis and podcasts as amateurish and narcissistic. How can I judge what I have not seen and evaluated? Blog, wiki and audio technologies are just like printing presses used to publish newspapers --- tools that a broad spectrum of thinkers are using to get their word out. Period.

Now. If big media is any guide, some of these products are superior or elite (definition b above). Others are foolish. Which leads me to my point: That the true judge of value here is the reader. 

We're all at risk of preaching to the converted, to publishing an echo chamber

Question 3. Is expertise, by definition, elitist? And if so, are expertise and elitism necessary features of a high-quality media?

Again, depends on how you define it. Start at the top.

Hope to see you there! If not, I invite your thoughts and improvements below.

UPDATED: I blogged after the panel at this post: Cybersalon: A postscript.

Comments

[Knowing Art]

I think both "sides" can learn from each other.

The rules have changed though--example: I'm here because you are on the front page over at tech.memeorandum

Do we know which indicators signal a memeorandum listing? It could be algorithmic or listings could be "human" selected...my point is that it's not just what you have to say, but also the level of attention that you have partially gained due to the tech factors influencing the landscape, which non-geeks might not even be aware of, even at the top of the food chain.