Ironically, it’s quite fortunate for the vast majority of bloggers that their inane ramblings are so tedious that they rarely get any attention. A comfort zone has emerged on the web where people feel they can hide behind the anonymity of their net connection while libelling people left, right and centre. It is the ultimate in free speech, but the power of blogs is growing so quickly that it surely can’t be long before companies and individuals start targeting bad-mouthing bloggers with law suits. So those with an extreme grudge to bear better hope their badly written monstrosities never start picking up significant traffic.
We do, of course, live in a democratic society where free speech is the norm, and the internet has done more than any other medium to provide the little people with a voice. Or a least the illusion of having a voice.
It’s brought about the downfall of some pretty high-profile people already. I’m thinking of CBS anchorman Dan Rather, who was forced to resign after a prolonged Internet attack exposed his flawed story about George Bush’s military history, and of former CNN chief executive Eason Jordan, who was ousted after a blogger posted a one of his highly contentious and supposedly off-the-record statements at the World Economic Forum online. Those two scalps must be particularly satisfying for the blogosphere: the traditionally closed shop that is mainstream media being crippled by people with no journalism training, and who have not had to work their way up from tea boy, through local reporter and all the way to the top of the game.
Such has been the effect of the new world order driven by citizen journalists, the traditional powers that be have upped efforts to get a piece of the action. Executives at major commercial organisations have “blogs” which are no more than PR-approved, self-publicising drivel. Dell is the latest one, although I have to say it shows some promise. It’s obviously slightly self-indulgent, but it does give some interesting insights, and is likely to be closely monitored by techies and journalists. It’s useful and it’s down to earth style is, I’m sure, deemed “cool” at Dell HQ, but I can’t help feeling that this sort of thing is not in the spirit of the blog.
So, all in all, I’m going to seek out the libellous little guys when I’m looking for a light read at lunchtime. They’re the ones with something truly spontaneous and interesting to say. But I won’t be linking to them in case the legal eagles spot any troublesome defamation and force them to shut down.
