Bloggers are not the "New Paparazzi"

I truly respect Mark Cuban but something he wrote recently has bothered me. On Blog Maverick (Mark Cuban's weblog) he had a post entitled Political Bloggers - the new paparazzi. This metaphor or characterization is just wrong. Maybe the best way for me to explain why Cuban's characterization bothers me is to directly address what he wrote:

They lurk in the bushes. They camp out in cars. They roam the sidewalks. Camera in hand. A-List celebrities know they are there. They know they are waiting for a moment of weakness. Just a glimpse that they are human, or not quite as glamorous as their publicists present them. When that moment strikes anywhere outside their home, I know they gulp hard, hoping not to hear the sound, or see the burst of a camera flash.

First off bloggers don't "lurk". In Internet parlance a "lurker" is someone who reads what is written on a site or chatboard but does not join in the conversation. A blogger on the other hand puts his views out for all to see. The word "lurk" in normal parlance is one of those words that purveys negative connotations (like the work "ilk").

Does Mark Cuban not see the irony that he is writing this on a blog? Does he see himself as a paparazzi stalking the celebrity of NBA athletes or does he blog for different reasons? The term used for owners who buy their teams because they want to "hang" with the players is "jock sniffer". Would Cuban take offense if characterized as a jock sniffer or NBA paparazzi? Is that why Cuban blogs - to catch that "moment of weakness" in a player so he can write about it? I think Mark Cuban would be rightly offended at such a characterization. Is it so hard for Cuban to grasp that others blog for the same reason he does - because they have an opinion or expertise that they want to share?

When it happens, there is a price to be paid. The celebrity has to deal with the price of any consequence. The photographer gets paid the price commensurate with the popularity and interest in the star, and the vulnerability captured in the picture.

In the world of political blogging, bloggers are the new paparazzi and the traditional news media reporters and columnists are the new targets.

Paparazzi are first and foremost in it for the money. If taking pictures of celebrities didn't pay anything - how many paparazzi do you think there would be? Blogging doesn't pay yet it is wildly popular. Talking and writing about politics has always been an American pastime. Blogging has simply given the populace a new vehicle to voice their opinions, their thoughts or to speak out and say "that's wrong!"

It is much more true to say "pride goeth before a fall" than to say "traditional news media reporters and columnists are the new targets". Bloggers weren't out to get Dan Rather. He had the hubris to air fraudulent documents masquerading as the truth and bloggers shouted out "that's wrong!" Rony Abovitz did not go to Davos with the intent to get Eason Jordan but when Jordan said that the US military was intentionally targeting journalists he knew he had to bear witness and say something about it.

There have been millions upon millions of blog entries. I know at www.icerocket.com, we have indexed at least 6mm pages of blogs. I don’t know the number of political bloggers, or the number of pages posted, but I can tell you this, every single one of them with any aspirations of popularity is looking for a way to stand out. The way that happens is to knock one of the gatekeepers off their perch.

Mark - what gatekeeper are you trying to knock off their perch with your blog? Is it too hard to grasp that others blog for the same reasons you do?

Whether it’s been newspapers, magazines, TV or radio, the opportunities to reach an audience has been limited to a finite number of local and national gatekeepers. Just outside those gates, knocking on the door, trying to be heard for the past 100 or more years have been wanna be Woodward and Bernsteins. People with information, ideas and concepts that they know the populace would respond to have been turned away, again and again.

Its payback time . The bloggers are here, and they are ready to knock down the gates and get their pound of flesh. The traditional media has no idea what is about to hit them.

I can agree with the first part but the "pound of flesh" part? Bloggers aren't looking for a pound of flesh - they just won't take it when someone pisses on their backs and say its raining. I would also agree with the final statement that the "traditional media has no idea what is about to hit them."

In every major conference, at every major speech, sitting at tables in restaurants, there is going to be a blogger or podcaster with microphone, PDA, Videophone, laptop or paper and pencil in hand. Listening. Taking notes. That information is going to be transmitted to and from a blog entry and placed in the hands of "the readers".

Reporting the truth and bearing witness somehow twisted into the invasion of privacy world of paparazzi? I don't get it.

Unlike celebrities who hear or see the flash of the camera, the gatekeepers don't know they are there. Blogging in plain site. Questioning everything.

God forbid if someone has the temerity to question something an authority figure says or does. Ummm... Mark? Didn't the Internet make you a billionaire? You are aware we are living in the information age - right?

Dan Rather and Eason Jordan were just practice laps. Let me assure you that from now on, EVERYTHING said. Every video shown. Every picture presented from any traditional media source is going to be scrutinized. The level of scrutiny will make your editors blush.

Pride went before their falls. They took themselves down. Making one responsible for one's actions is what it is called. Nobody made Rather air fraudulent documents and nobody made Eason Jordan make scurrilous allegations. You call it scrutiny. I call it accountability.

The gatekeepers are under attack. I'm not saying its right or wrong, but it is the new reality.

Sounds like you are saying its wrong.

Fortunately, there is a way to deal with the paparazzi. There is also a way for the gatekeepers to deal with the bloggers. A simple way.

Recognize them. Give them respect. Celebrities can’t keep photographers out of their bushes no matter how hard they try. The gatekeepers won’t be able to keep the bloggers out either. Instead they should invite them in.

Not 1. Not 2. But several from both sides. Bring in the more popular blogs that like you, and the same number of those that don't. Give them as much access as you give the NY Times, Wash Post. Don't muzzle them, let them write.

Now you're talking! By the way - how many bloggers have NBA press credentials?

I will tell you exactly what will happen next. The blogs you invite in will still try to trip you up, but they will quickly morph and act like traditional media. When you screw up , they will tell you when it happens and give you a chance to comment and respond. They will like being on the inside and adjust to try to stay there.

The bloggers left on the outside will continue to try to trip you up, but will spend more time and energy trying to tear down the bloggers who got inside the gates. Jealousy is a bitch.

It will work, try it.

Sadly this is true.

If you don't, call George Clooney and Britney Spears Federline for advice. You are going to need it.

I really have no idea how to respond to this last line of gibberish except to say POLITICAL BLOGGERS ARE NOT LIKE PAPARAZZI!