Blogging and Gonzo

Dear James, Daniel and Emily

So last week I read Outlaw Journalist and the thing that struck me was how much the world has changed since the days that HST was writing. And how much his technique and style have influenced the world of journalism.

The reality is that most of Hunter's work would have fit right in with the blogosphere as it is now. The quality of the writing would have been a cut above of course, but the general ideas of not just reporting but being a part of the story. And making the coverage of the story the story are really right up the alley of our new Web 2.0 webernet.

You can see the acceptance of Hunter's style and approach (not the drugs and alcohol part) in just about everything out there now. The thing is, with all of the advances in technology and speed, the news and facts are right there and within easy access to anyone with a laptop and some time to google. SO almost every article and piece of coverage loses the old third person objectivity that used to be a requirement. Instead it has become spin, what did you see at that rally? What was your opinion of what you saw and heard?

And with the advent of mobile computing and micro blogging, like Twitter, just about everyone can provide the stream of thought and consciousness reporting that mad much of Hunters work jump out. There is no reason to write things down on a notebook, go home, gather your notes, organize them, then write out the story. Instead your view gets out there 160 characters at a time.

Whether that's a good thing is left to more critical thinkers than me. Suffice to say I think it's great. The key is to understand that pretty much any news you get now is only going to show 1 side of the story, but you don't have to wait very long to get the other side. Critical thinking will become more important, the ability to sift the wheat from the chaff, but that is a good thing in my opinion. Better that people have lots of resources at their disposal, forcing them to think, than being spoon fed news and information from 3 networks and 1 newspaper.