I am not sure what David Bullard ate this week but it has upset him and I think a blogger fed it to him. Bullard has chosen to take on the blogging community and done a great job of misunderstanding what Blogs are and the potential therein. I think that he hates us, us bloggers, us vocal individuals who are not employed by “the man”.
Bullard says, and I quote:
Most blog sites are the air guitars of journalism. They’re cobbled together by people who wouldn’t stand a hope in hell of getting a job in journalism, mainly because they have very little to say. It’s rather sad how many people think the tedious minutiae of their lives will be of any interest to anyone else.
What is this man going on about? I am sure that the thousands of readers on So Close and Peas would disagree immensely with Bullard. Unfortunately in my opinion he has missed the boat this week. The “air guitars” of journalism, I think not Mr Bullard. I can understand how many bloggers think that they will make it big if they simply write something on a blog. This is ignorant and naive and not true, obviously. But there are many, many, many blogs and bloggers who in fact work as journalists and many other professions who are bloggers too, yours truly for example.
This seems to be a case of witch hunting, he doesn’t understand something [blogs] and couldn’t be bothered to actually do enough research to determine the extent of the reach of a blog, and especially of an effective blog at that. It is fairly strange to me that Bullard knocks blogs so hard when he interacts with many steadfast and established bloggers every day. I would love to know what CrazyRant, Groogle and YoungBlood think about Bullards attack on bloggers.
To add insult to injury, Bullard then proceeds to attack the readers of blogs:
It’s even sadder when someone reads them.
Are you kidding me? Now he is insulting the choices that people make? Who is this print columnist kidding? Readers can read what they like, I choose to read Bullard’s column every week as much as I choose to read Chumpstyle, 1000Mnms and many other blogs.
It seems to me that Bullard is talking about the average Joe who thinks that he/she has something profound to say and then finds out that someone has said it before. I get it, there are millions of blogs out there that are ridiculous, but there is a market for them all.
I am not even going to start the discussion of print vs. new media, old vs. new and which will prevail. It’s not worth it and I think that if Bullard was to do a bit more research he would see that there are many great writers, journalists and citizens who are making use of their blogs for more than mindless ranting.
I am disappointed.
Update:
Check out the following:
http://vincentmaher.com/mit/?p=347#comment-28411
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2445995529
http://www.unodewaal.com/2007/05/06/david-bullard-plays-air-opinion/
http://www.henriska.com/blog/?p=162
http://wiredgecko.net/2007/05/ill-just-write-some-drivel-then-bullard/
http://justinhartman.com/2007/05/07/is-david-bullard-an-utter-wanker/
http://www.greenman.co.za
http://www.mikestopforth.com/2007/05/07/dont-prove-david-bullard-right/
http://www.sharepointexpert.co.za/?p=17
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Vincent Maher 2:15 pm on May 6, 2007 Permalink
Nic, agreed, these are the comments of an outsider who doesn’t get it. Leave him be, he will figure it out one day.
Nic 2:37 pm on May 6, 2007 Permalink
Ja, I guess you are right. I was just fairly disappointed that he had to be the one to say things like that, I really do enjoy his column. It’s one of the highlights of Sundays for me.
naeem 2:52 pm on May 6, 2007 Permalink
Seems he’s old skool. Blogs are used not only for personal lives. Many business’s have used blogging to improve sales and customer interactivity.
Sites like Gizmodo, Lifehacker.com, Jalopnik, Vinnylingham.com etc etc are far from the “tedious minutiae of their lives”
shame on you bullard, you need to get with the times.
muscles 4:26 pm on May 6, 2007 Permalink
with 71 million blogs out there some of them have to be good - matt
cant remember if that is from technorati or mybloglor or somewhere but it hits the nail on the head….
Some blogs are inane ramblings some are worth the read, very much like dave bullards weekly piece….
Ross 4:37 pm on May 6, 2007 Permalink
So what! I love playing the air guitar and if Bully says he never has i would call his bluff =’)
Vincent Maher 7:26 pm on May 6, 2007 Permalink
Have a look at the trends in Amatomu - it takes one glance to see that the Life category is less than a third of the total blogs listed there. It’s a cheap shot and disappointing because there are credible objections one could have about the blogosphere, his just aren’t well thought through.
Nic 8:59 pm on May 6, 2007 Permalink
Vince: Exactly my point, his column was badly researched and just missed the point completely.
David Bullard plays Air Opinion at Uno se Blog 10:42 pm on May 6, 2007 Permalink
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I’ll just write some drivel then, Bullard? at Wired Gecko 11:03 pm on May 6, 2007 Permalink
[...] Nic Haralambous Uno De Waal Marius [...]
Vincent Maher - Media in Transition » David Bullard owes South African bloggers an apology 11:32 pm on May 6, 2007 Permalink
[...] Nic Haralambous Uno De Waal Marius [...]
Famous last words of Marius » Who the hell does David Bullard think he is? 7:27 am on May 7, 2007 Permalink
[...] Nic Haralambous [...]
courts 7:39 am on May 7, 2007 Permalink
I think that there are a lot of people that write cr*p every day on their blogs. For me the most important part of informative blogs is that they are normally written by writers who may not be trained as writers with precise grammar etc, but are experts on a subject. And so often one reads a piece of journalism which is published nationally (like a large scale newspaper) by a journalist who actually has no experience in the subject of what he/she writes on, but feels that because he/she has been PUBLISHED, has a journ related degree or training, that they are now experts on a particular subject, when actually they are just masters of grammar.
Life of a Sharepoint Developer » Bullard slates blogs 8:08 am on May 7, 2007 Permalink
[...] I said to Nic (whose take on this little rant is listed here), I believe that Mr Bullard has missed the point about blogs, and that often the people who write [...]
Bullard Link-Baits Bloggers? at Mohamed Nanabhay’s Blog 8:41 am on May 7, 2007 Permalink
[...] storm and fighting The Man yet I can’t help but wonder if David Bullard has just successfully link-baited us all. Maybe next week he’ll announce how many links his article [...]
stii.za.net » Blog Archive » Is David Bullard so wrong? 10:04 am on May 7, 2007 Permalink
[...] Nic Haralambous [...]
youngBLOOD · Bullardgate: A BIG shout-out to the Blogosphere 1:21 pm on May 7, 2007 Permalink
[...] Nic Haralambous http://www.nicharalambous.com/2007/05/06/david-bullard-attacks-blogs/ [...]
SA Rocks » Blog Archive » Freedom to Fury : Raging Bullard? really? 9:24 pm on May 7, 2007 Permalink
[...] your skills and one day rise to the hallowed domain of the pressroom, I know you all secretly long for it, now [...]
FACareers » Blog Archive » Using Bullard’s Buzz 10:31 pm on May 7, 2007 Permalink
[...] calling has been flung about. Questions about his breakfast have been raised. Bloggers have been dubbed potential serial killers, sexually deprived, even [...]
hidoop.com 8:20 pm on May 13, 2007 Permalink
Blogs Are like Air Guitars…
David Bullard of the Sunday Times has written quite a crushing article about blogs. Should I bother to write down my own objections here? No, better just continue blogging; I’m only having fun and I happen to like it. I love my guitar!
Interest…