When I read that Patrick Goldstein, author of the L.A. Times column The Big Picture, was launching a new blog under the auspices of the paper, I didn’t think it was that big of a deal. I think the exact thought that popped into my head was something along the lines of, “Oh hey! He likes to package pseudo-populist opinion as though it’s unimpeachable fact––he’ll fit right in!”
But the rest of the internet is, like, freaking out. Shoutcasting the story as “BREAKING” news, FishbowlLA went on to relate that the Times plans to put “Goldstein’s knowledge and sources to work in a blog that brings responsible journalism to the faster-than-pulp pace of 24/7 online entertainment reporting.” Finally, a “responsible” corrective for our chaos!
But all meta-commentary on this issue of international importance pales in comparison to the hundreds of words put forth by Jeffrey Wells. Wells carefully dissects Goldstein’s announcement post and helpfully underlines the hidden meanings. Goldstein says he’ll have his Times colleagues drop in from time to time. Wells says, “Translation: he’s a little bit freaked by the idea of round-the-clock postings and doesn’t want to kill himself.” Not to diminish the accuracy of that translation, but I can’t think of a single newspaper blog that’s ever even attempted a commitment to “round-the-clock postings.”
The real gem of Wells’ commentary concerns the new blog’s look. “The design guys, in short, need to go outside and get high**, and then come back in and make the design of the Big Picture blog an attitude and an atmosphere unto itself.” Those asterisks lead to a disclaimer: “**As someone who hasn’t toked up in over 30 years, I’m of course being figurative.” Of course!
Related, sort of: MTV did a story on the ongoing struggle of sites like Film School Rejects and Collider to get the trades to recognize them for the stories that they break. It’s sort of odd that the authors of the story don’t go into the fact that at least one major reason for the trades’ reluctance stems from the processes by which these sites often get their news––they’ll talk to an actor or a filmmaker at a junket for one project, and get them to give details on what they’re doing next; technically, these details are considered “unconfirmed”, even if they’re accurate, until the studio makes an official statement about the new project, and if the trades regularly gave credence to earlier reports, it would open up a whole can of worms about the legitimacy of rumor and gossip.
But rather than discuss these technicalities, Peter Bart reinforced the “bloggers are bottom feeders” meme: “If someone has a big story in the entertainment business, the first thing they are going to do is get it toVariety. They are not going to start saying, ‘Which bloggers can we feed?’”
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