Think blogs haven’t “arrived”? This morning, Don Imus has probably said the word “blog” 25 times, and has been discussing Jessica Cutler and her blog, Washingtonienne (this link is a reproduction by Wizbang). Imus has asked NBC’s David Gregory and Norah O’Donnell to discuss the subject of Ms. Cutler and her site, and they both have feigned any idea about the details of the blog. They don’t seem to want to be involved at all.
Imus continues with “this is why you hate the media, because they don’t want to discuss things like this - when everyone else is talking about it.” Enter the blogosphere - where you go when you don’t get what you’re looking for in the rest of the media world. Want to hear about Ms. Cutler’s exploits? Check out her blog. Want to hear someone talk about the exploits and the repercussions of such - check out Wonkette or The National Debate. The folks on the show have discussed blogs on and off this morning, with sports guy Sid Rosenberg asking if it was just a “sex journal” and Charles McCord explaining that this wasn’t the case - it could be about anything, and that there are “millions of them, you just have to know the address” in order to get to them. Of course, these were the more positive comments on the show, outside of Bernard McGuirk calling Ms. Cutler a “slut” numerous times, which led the topic of the show to discussing who at the radio station is sleeping with who, and Imus grilling some people on the show about what is going on.
While it is interesting that it took something so trystic to get blogging mentioned in this vein, it’s the thought that counts. It’s unfortunate that Ms. Cutler ended up losing her job out of this, but I’m sure she’ll do just fine going forward.
[update] Last night, CableNewser pointed out that the duo of Cutler and Cox are definitely talk of the town.
6 responses so far ↓
1 Thom Jankowski // May 27, 2004 at 8:39 am
Enough with the neologisms already! First it was blog (what an ugly word), then the even worse “blogosphere” (sounds like another name for kidney stone), now it’s “mainstreamocity?”
C’mon. How about popularity, recognition, etc.? This tendency to make up words is partly one reason that mainstream media don’t take bloggers seriously.
Also, those two are definitely sluts. And they’re ugly two. I’ve seen Cutler a few times and she’s nothing to look at (no wonder everyone wanted anal from her).
2 Tom // May 27, 2004 at 8:48 am
While I can see your point about “making up words,” part of the reason that many people are sick of mainstream media is that they don’t say what they mean.
They say what is politically correct and dictated to them by the media conglomerates that own them. It’s the same reason why Mike Francesa on WFAN won’t report on a story if he happened to get scooped by crosstown rival ESPN Radio in New York City - want to talk about something that he wasn’t the source on? “Sorry - we won’t take your call.” is the answer you’ll receive.
I firmly believe that the overall writing abilities I’ve shown on this site will give me a “pass” if I choose to throw something in a title like “mainstreamocity” once in a while. Roget’s doesn’t rule my vocabulary, and it shouldn’t rule yours - this society is elitist enough as it is.
3 Buzz // May 27, 2004 at 4:57 pm
Tom, do you know if the names of the politicians who had sex with Cutler which are mentioned on this blog are for real?
http://washingtoniennejessicacutler.blogspot.com
4 Jackie // May 27, 2004 at 6:34 pm
If ever a “trend” was overblown, it’s blogs. There are not “millions” of them — a figure that keeps being repeated, but is entirely unsubstantiated. Perhaps a million accounts have been created on all the blog sites put together (or perhaps not), but 95 percent of them have been abandoned, many without a single post. I know. I work for a company trying to cash in on the movement. The self-important hype surrounding blogs reminds me of the GeoCities- and Tripod-led revolution of the late-90s that was going to give everyone in the world a personal homepage.
5 The Commissar // May 27, 2004 at 7:13 pm
Was the whole thing made up?
I dunno, but I blogged all the
questions and coincidences.
6 Tom // May 27, 2004 at 10:19 pm
Jackie -
While the number of blogs might be somewhat incorrect, I do think there could be a million blogs running at any one time. At the very least, there are several hundred thousand sites working.
At the same time, why is it even important - I just quoted a stat because it was provided to me. Personally, if there are 50,000 blogs that are read regularly, I’m fine with that. The point is that *blogs* aren’t going away, and are gaining steam. Your company may be trying to make money off of them, but just because that company isn’t successful doesn’t mean blogging isn’t a good model for publishing.