Shobhan Saxena thinks most bloggers are lunatic and rant about things in life rather than presenting serious opinion on issues. He is of the opinion that most bloggers are the ones frustrated because they couldn’t excel in their desired field.
He further goes on to prove that bloggers mostly are jaundiced and blog just to insinuate their virulent objectives of wining over people opinions
the US marines are using myspace.com for giving a positive spin to their stories from Iraq, and in Canada, an “angel of death” wrote a blog before shooting at 20 people. Forget wrong grammar and bad spellings, bloggers are now writing murders on the web.
He has a strange notion can bloggers are actually journalists who are too irresponsible for their job.
Their vision is apocalyptic and their language is acidic. It’s good fun, but this is no journalism. Learning and mastering good journalism is tough. You learn it in libraries, on flooded streets, in front of a rioting mob, in the middle of crossfire between a militia and a military, in war trenches, in the corridors of power and in the hamlets of deprivation. Sometimes, a reporter walks for miles in an area ravaged by a tsunami to get one quote from the man hanging on to a tree for a week. Bloggers don’t have to worry about such inane things. They can learn history and politics from google. They can get their facts from newspapers and then slam them with their half-baked opinions.
Then he goes on to label Indian bloggers
And no one can beat Indian bloggers when it comes to self-obsessed preaching, gossiping and bitching. The Indian blog which has made the most news, carries nothing but office gossip of the two leading TV channels
Well I have no idea how he assumes the role of a journalist to be discharged by bloggers. Bloggers mostly present their personal views and it takes lot of time and effort to build audience. And plus it all depends on the readers to come back again or not. You can’t do that with Times of India! one has to bear with the shit they offer, in terms of gossip and masala news overweighing politics. Bloggers are not bound my censor rules or government policies. Bloggers write what they feel like and mostly they are personal accounts or opinions. How can he compare a professional journalist, who is paid to put the commas and semi-colons in the correct place, to a amateur blogger? I don’t care about the grammar rules because I never paid any heed to them in school and most of language skill developed by reading. I haven’t done any professional course on journalism or English language. I won’t be fired just because I cannot get the tense or the comma right! I write as a hobby.
There are many news which the journalists don’t have access to but a blogger, being associated with that organization, can divulge them. There are people who are enthusiastic about passing the information to the world that they even risk their jobs. Blogs have revolutionized the way information is exchanged. It has given those suppressed voices a platform to express themselves to the world anonymously. Its just a matter of few clicks before one publishes his/her thoughts. Blogs of countries like China and Afghanistan have always attracted attention because of strict laws against freedom of speech in those countries. It has opened for them a window of opportunity to express themselves and let the world know about the atrocities and subjugation they are forced to live with. No one would have anticipated the popularity when blogs first appeared on the scene in 1998.
I agree that most bloggers use the power of Internet to base their writings but then whats bad in that? After those news come from professional journalists, don’t they? So he means to say that they can’t be trusted!
More here Shivam Vij (Everyone has the right to be stupid, including the Slimes of India) and Amit Varma ( Generalising about bloggers)
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IMeMy 10.02.06 at 10:34 am
I wouldn’t take as extreme a stand as S. Saxena does, however, there is some truth to what he says about the blogging becoming an easy tool to get worldwide attention. That could become a dangerous scenario if the blogger’s sanity and the health of his mental faculties were in question. However, blogging is individual expression, and of course that’s a fundamental right in a democracy. However, it’s an expression that has to be doled out with extreme care and discretion.
Sharique 10.03.06 at 6:58 am
But then any control over blogging would be hindering the freedom of expression right? I leave this to the discretion of readers..let them decide what’s right and what’s wrong. I also agree to his view that people have used blogging to promote their agenda but then you cannot restrict such people…best way out is to ignore them..let people be the judge themselves
Apun Ka Desh 10.03.06 at 8:30 am
People generally differntiate between a blog and a serious news site. Just as people are fast learning to take the news in tv channels with a pinch of salt.
At least blogging gives an individual to write about his/her views. It is a interesting new medium…wonder how long it lasts.
Sharique 10.03.06 at 11:07 am
Blogging is here to stay
don’t worry
the illusionist 10.05.06 at 6:16 am
Hmm interesting. Saxena seems fairly opinionated an given to an extreme view. however I would agree that we do have quite a section of self obsessed bloggers that shoot their mouths. But i have an added dimension to this. I feel that if frustration and bitterness can be vented out in the virtual world by ranting and raving, then why not? Won’t the real world then be a lesser recipient of the same?
Sharique 10.07.06 at 9:11 am
Hope you are not referring to my posts below and above
KK 10.21.06 at 10:22 pm
What Mr Shobhan said ..,That’s real damn silly., n bloggers are not. Bloggers write straight from their heart and is their own raw opinion. We’re not forced to ’spice’ up out stories to make it interesting. We don’t make a big deal of every silly thing that happens around the world. It’s just our opinion. As u said.., we can ignore a blog if we cant to., there’s no escaping the newspaper. N sometimes it feels damn silly that they waste a whole newspaper to write about celebs fighting each other., their breakups., their holidays., unknown page 3 faces and he calls indian blogs places of gossip ! Dude ! Get real !
Sharique 10.22.06 at 1:54 am
KK,
can’t help. He should have first talked about those newspapers and then make an opinion about bloggers.
Well people are so prejudiced you see
Nita 09.03.07 at 4:29 pm
I came here from the comment you left on my blog.
I find your blog interesting. And this post was riveting. Well written!
Yes, I find that a lot of newspapers rant and rave about bloggers and I find it amusing. There are all sorts of blog, just as there are all sorts of people. In fact, that is what I like about bloggers. They are people. Newspapers reports are unemotional, factual accounts with as you said the commas in place! Sure, one needs them too. And one needs bloggers!
Sharique 09.03.07 at 7:14 pm
Welcome Nita
Planet Apex 01.08.08 at 6:53 pm
LOL, this is amusing. Someon better tell Shobhan Saxena (what a name) there is a emerging trend called value blogging which most often brings out the best of the best news and the fastest. She’s obviously been reading those teeny boper bloggers only.