In today's Wired News, an interview I conducted with veteran tech journalist and blogger Dan Gillmor. In his new book, We the Media: Grassroots Journalism by the People, for the People, he chronicles the social and economic impact of weblogs, wikis, mobile technology and other networked phenomena on the business of news.
WN: What role do blogs play in all of this?
Gillmor: They have joined the journalism ecosystem. It's more symbiosis than rivalry. I disagree with Big Media partisans who feel blogs are irrelevant, and with blog promoters who see the demise of professional journalism.WN: How did you see some of the issues in your book play out at the Democratic Convention? What sorts of trends and activity patterns do you anticipate as the November elections approach?
Gillmor: Bloggers became pets for the Big Media. You could almost see the establishment journalists petting bloggers like poodles and cooing, "Oh, good bloggers, aren't you cute!" (Apart from the ones who put on body armor and said, "Omigod, these pit bulls are dangerous!") It'll take a few more conventions — and a time when blogs aren't a novelty — for everyone to sort this out.
