I came across an interesting article today by Paul Reynolds, the Word Affairs correspondent for BBC News Online. As with a number of recent articles it was exploring the ongoing debate as to whether bloggers are just a nuisance to the mainstream media, or something much more powerful.
Looking at examples of the power of blogs, the article highlights the recent worldwide uproar over the Danish cartoons. However, if you read towards the bottom of this article, again by Paul Reynolds, he mentions that one of the apparent cartoons, is nothing of the sort, as highlighted by blogs, and also that blogs have found that the cartoons were published on the cover of an Egyptian newspaper in October. He also highlights how bloggers were able to expose issues with the evacuation of New Orleans, and the use of white phosphorus by the US military in Iraq.
The article goes on to discuss how blogs have exposed members of the so-called mainstream media, including the resignation of CNN chief news executive Eason Jordan.
The conclusion of the article is that bloggers are now something much more powerful. Big corporations and other organisations cannot afford to ignore the power of the blogsphere. For example my employer, publishes a daily media report listing all mentions of the company in the mainstream media, however as far as I am aware, they don’t keep an eye on the internet. A quick search on the internet for our brands and a few of our rivals shows that, as might be expected, discussion of energy suppliers is quite common in the blogsphere! Whereas big companies and organisations can be said to have some control over the mainstream media, the same cannot be said of the blogs.