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© David Shrigley
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AUTHOR’S NOTE: THIS POST FOLLOWS A COUPLE OF OTHERS ON (PHOTO)BLOGGING, HERE AND HERE.
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The 2011 Orwell Prize, the British awards for political writing, has just announced its longlists. The awards are into their 18th year, yet blogging was only recognised as a form of political writing in 2009. Here’s the blog longlist.
Upon the news, Charlie Beckett at POLIS chose to reflect on the health of blogging.
On one hand Beckett says that some good bloggers have bowed out (presumably not replaced instantly by new bloggers, quality-wise) but on the other acknowledges the slew of very good, very relevant and very free blogged opinion and commentary. He also applauds former mainstream media (MSM) journalists using the blog format as one tool in their kit. Overall, he thinks blogging is still in transition and “much of it below par.”
While I agree with most of Beckett’s points, I don’t agree with his conclusion. I think he is bored by the increased specialisation of blogs:
Everyone’s at it. The market’s gone way down the long tail with very specialist blogs … where people are addressing a very niche audience (though I wouldn’t be surprised if some of those narrow subject niches are rather capacious in terms of readers).
When Beckett refers to the market, I take it he is talking of activity and development of ideas, not solely about money exchange.
If Beckett is right about blog proliferation (I think he is) then we can conclude two things. Firstly, that readerships are getting cosier with their blogs of choice and selecting from an overall wider choice. Secondly, bloggers are splintering into niche next to niche to good effect; one’s subject matter does not dilute the others, but complements it.
The upshot? Bloggers and blog-readers have increased in relevance to one another.
Beckett sees this preponderance from the other side too. The mind-share (of readers) has been, and continues to be, a premium commodity for writers. For eyes-on-screens, bloggers are not only competing against MSM but against each other too.
Original content will secure those eyes.
TOO MUCH OPINION?
Beckett weighs the reporting of new facts against the “surplus supply” of opinion.
There is a so much professional and personal comment around on MSM (Comment Is Free) as well as independent forums like Mumsnet or Facebook that opinion is now so cheap (free) that it’s has lost its value in the market place of public debate. New ideas and new facts suddenly have more currency than views.
Readers don’t mind if content – containing new ideas and new facts – is written by a journalist or blogger, professional or amateur, as long as it is proven reliable and informed.
So now it seems the expectation of a blog is to be not only specialised (niche) but also to carry exclusive material (unique). That is a tall order, yet the long and engorged tail may suggest it is already being done.
Certainly, blogs need to do more than merely point.
Finally, Beckett says that here in America, we might still be hung up on a difference between bloggers and journalists. I wasn’t aware.
In the States I am amazed that there is a still a debate about bloggers v journalists. In the UK we appear to have moved on from that rather sterile argument, although our blogosphere does not have the power of the American versions.
Beckett calls the argument sterile because it is clear that if blog content is bogus, people won’t read. Conversely, if content is good and the copy is lyrical then readership follows, no matter who you are. (This logic may apply more to the act of reading more than, say, watching cable news where nonsense seems to dominate.)
“UNICHE”
You heard it here first folks. Uniche, meaning the required combination of niche subject matter and unique content, might be the tricky combination required by bloggers to survive remain relevant in the future. It’s not merely good enough to have your own area, you have to deal with its issues with fresh information and shower it over readers in timely, tasty morsels.
Whadd’ya reckon? Uniche? Does the wordplay work?
Uniche. Also the feminine plural of unico:
Adjective: unico m. (f. unica, m plural unici, f plural uniche)
1. only, sole, one, single
2. unique, unparalleled, unequalled
ONE MORE THING: BEN’S PRISON BLOG
Incidentally, one of the longlisted blogs for the 2011 Orwell Blog Prize is Ben’s Prison Blog. “The only blog by a serving British prisoner,” as claimed by author Ben Gunn, looks “stupidity and ignorance in the eye whilst attempting to inject some neurons into the criminological debate.”
I wrote about Gunn’s position as a pioneer incarcerated blogger a couple of years ago when one of his letters containing content deemed by the prison governor as “interesting enough to be published on the internet” was intercepted and not delivered. (More here)
Peter Hoffman‘s representation of life at Bryan House is one of sanctuary and everyday tasks. It is the sort of normality and calm you expect many of the refugees depicted have sought for a long time. Bryan House is in Aurora, Illinois, where legally established refugees are allowed to reside for periods of a year or more at a time while saving up for a new home, college tuition or other life progressing steps.
Support the Bryan House organization by purchasing Hoffman’s self-published book. You can also buy a limited edition print at Collect.Give. All profits go directly to Bryan House.
(Found via La Pura Vida)
Really?
“Here I can experience the most vivid and complete representation of my memories.”
The above is a quote from the promo video (on 29 seconds) for a new smart-phone App named Color. The claim is – how should I put this? – a load of bollocks.
Color automatically shares all the images you snap in the App with everybody else using the App within the immediate geographical area. I’m still waiting to find out how large that area is.
Color‘s promise that “There’s no attaching, uploading, or friending to do” would send me running a mile. Hello? Privacy?
Color is a product to feed the suffocating self-obsession of modern society.
If someone else makes an image, on their smart phone, of other people, or of an event, in another time, and in another space, and then, you own a tool onto which the image is stored as a digital file, it does not make that event, nor any representation of it, YOUR memory.
It doesn’t even make those people your friends.
Dancing at Shalimar in Oakland in 1983. From the book, Oakland Blues. Photo by Michelle Vignes
While I was surfing through info about Michelle Vignes for a previous post, I came across a quaint little piece on SportsShooter.
When reporter Jim Merithew describes Vignes’ accent as French, she corrects him:
“I don’t have a French accent. I have a mixed accent. I got my accent when I worked at Magnum. Everybody had a different accent; part French, part Hungarian, part German, part whatever it is. So that’s my Magnum salad.”
Vignes also has a cut-to-the-chase view of documentary photographers today:
“They seem to work on the web. To me it is just like spitting in the wind.”
The success of the changes in Egypt will largely be judged on the strength of the new democracy – more specifically, the viability and strength of its institutions and the way in which they unite the people’s needs. If Egypt’s justice system serves truth and enacts fair judicial process, especially regarding deaths during the protests, then it shall be a source of pride and calm for Egyptians in their quickly changing nation.
Ahmed Mohammed Mahmoud was one of the first journalists to die during the protests. Mahmoud’s family believe he himself captured the photo-evidence to prosecute his killer.
From the London Photographers’ Branch:
“Ahmed Mohammed Mahmoud’s last photograph was an image of his killer taken just before he was shot in the face. His wife hopes that this evidence will bring his murderer to justice, with the support of his trade union, the Egyptian Journalists Syndicate.”
Watch this case.
People carry a symbolic coffin of Egyptian journalist Ahmed Mohammed Mahmoud, in a symbolic funeral ceremony in Tahrir Square, Cairo, Egypt, Monday, Feb. 7. Photo Credit: Ben Curtis / AP
“I find it very interesting by the way that failure to learn your language is seen as a deficit but failure to learn my language is seen as so natural.”
In My Language is one of the most logical and beautiful films I’ve ever seen.
(via)
“Tim’s New Office”
Following the Christchurch earthquake of February 22nd, severed and compromised sewer pipes cannot be relied upon. As a result outside toilets, or ‘Long Drops’ have been constructed. A new community website ShowUsYourLongDrop showcases all the creative pooping-pits built in the back-gardens of Christchurch.
From the ShowUsYourLongDrop website:
The earthquake disaster has been a testing time for us Cantabrians and we feel for people who have lost loved ones or property. Our thoughts are with you. During these tough times it is important to be with friends and family and still be able to have a good laugh. Hence the reason for this website. A bit of toilet humour is bound to put a smile on your face even if your having a crappy day!
“The Woodshet”
“The Magic House Long Drop”
“The Self Composting”
“The Outdoor Beach Special”
“Danger: Poo Below”
“The Lighting Special”
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Readers. I realise this is again a post off the topic of prisons. I am working on a couple of lengthy pieces so those important politics will return. And besides, one-off and resilient photo communities such as ShowUsYourLongDrop deserve a warm clap and recognition for their humor in the face of great inconvenience.
Prison Photography 