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Are blogs a benefit? No

Bloggers will spread rumors and false information

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  • Aprill Brandon •
  • Originally published June 30, 2008 at 8:04 a.m., updated June 30, 2008 at 8:04 a.m.

One of the biggest issues surrounding blogs is how credible they are.

Advocate blogger Mark Kelly said given the free and unrestricted nature of this kind of medium, blogs do have the potential to hinder the media at large with faulty information and rumors.

“It is far too often that blogs are written with ulterior motives,” he said.

Anonymity is also another issue, long-time blogger Toni Marek said.

“Anyone and their brother can be a blogger. That is great that people are allowed to do that, but I really think that there should be a policy on a place like the Advocate or the Chronicle to be truthful about your identity if you’re going to blog,” she said.

Fellow blogger Giraldo Barraza agreed.

“By and large, blogs get a bad reputation. But it’s easy to see why,” he said. “Communication is an act of responsibility and many don’t understand that. They just type and post from their narrow view of the world.”

Barraza added that he thinks mainstream media needs to utilize blogs in a more constructive manner.

“Currently it appears a bit ‘Wild West’ for my tastes. Everyone with a six-shooter or an Internet connection can fire their guns in the air,” he said.

Another issue facing blogs is copyright laws. On June 12, Rogers Cadenhead of the Drudge Retort, a takeoff of the Drudge Report, announced that the Associated Press had sent a legal notice ordering him to take down seven blog postings on his Web site, which the news agency said were violating their copyright.

According to a June 20 AP story, the issue was resolved but not before many prominent bloggers rallied behind Cadenhead, stating that the posts in questions were protected under the “fair use” provision of copyright law.

Although the matter is closed, Cadenhead was quoted in the story as saying a larger conflict remains between the AP’s view of acceptable use of its content and most blogging practices of taking quotes and excerpts from news stories.

Aprill Brandon is a reporter for the Advocate. Contact her at 361-580-6514 or abrandon@vicad.com, or comment on this story at www.VictoriaAdvocate.com.


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