Pen-Elayne on the Web

If You Can't Say Something Nice...

Maybe it's the lazy hazy days, maybe it's the lingering cold that's killed half my vacation, but a lot of things on my blogroll are pissing me off lately.  I've held off on talking about them because I don't particularly enjoy getting people mad at me, but that's kind of a poor excuse because how badly off are we if we can't take a little criticism from our friends?  (And, conversely, if we believe what they say isn't true, what's the point in taking offense at it on behalf of others?)  But I can see if I don't get these things off my chest they'll only fester, so here goes.  You have been warned.

 

If you write to the Democrats asking them to consider you as a convention blogger, and you are indeed chosen, don't you think it's a little unfair for you not to cough up the money to attend that convention yourself?  Isn't it just a tad gallish asking your readers to do it?  We're not talking about Chris Albritton raising money to go Back to Iraq, we're talking about dime-a-dozen liberal pundits blog-begging so they can report about hanging out with political bigwigs.  It's your responsibility to find the bucks to go to this shindig, not your readers'.  If you didn't have the disposable cash for something like this in the first place, you shouldn't have put your name in for consideration.  But of course, long-time Pen-Elayne readers know how I feel in general about blog-begging (it's unseemly and rude from any blogger who's relatively well-off and gainfully employed).

 

Which segues into this week's big debate about "bloggers versus journalists."  This whining reminds me a lot of the comics "fan versus pro" debates.  Lots of people (including me) used to be able to get into the San Diego Comic-Con (before it became the behemoth it is today) by insisting they were industry professionals even when they weren't - for instance, if they'd had an article about comics published somewhere, or did comics reviews, or considered themselves a BNF (Big Name Fan), they could finagle that into meaning "professional."  It's the sort of behavior that should stop when you become experienced enough to know better and stop kidding yourself (at which point, like me, you can get into cons for free by working tables for non-profit organizations and/or being married to an actual professional).

 

Nowadays very few fans see a difference between "published" and "professional," which is certainly a step up from the "wanna-bes" who pontificate on mailing lists about their Amazing Projects Which Will Change Comics Forever (yes, again, guilty as charged, and Ari of Lemuria is still the best comic never to be published outside of this [scroll down to see page 1]), but still a far cry from reality, not to mention an insult to those talented and lucky few who are able to make their living writing and drawing comics.  But it's a weird business, in which the transition from fan to pro nowadays is more of a continuum than a hard and fast line; half the aspiring writers with whom I used to hang out at the CompuServe Comics and Animation Forum are now bonafide pros, for instance.  So it's understandable why so many aspirants would want to see those lines continue to be blurred.

 

So it seems with bloggers.  Just because you write well enough to attract a sizeable audience and influence opinion does not make you a professional journalist.  Just because many professional journalists are beholden to power and not doing their jobs the way they should still doesn't make you one.  I've seen tons of nicely-done comics that I wish their creators could make a living from writing and drawing, and I've seen lots of (subjectively) poorly-done professional ones that I can't believe companies are paying people to write and draw, and even though I've had comics stories published none of this makes me a professional.  It just makes me a jealous whiner.  Just, just stop it, okay?  You want to be considered a professional journalist blogger, get a job with a news organization and blog for them.  It's not impossible if you're talented and lucky enough.  Otherwise, stop insulting both journalists and other bloggers by acting like a blog is somehow both a less worthy and a purer medium of communication than news reporting.  Be proud of what you're doing, of the audience you're attracting, without feeling the need to call what you do (in a new and increasingly powerful medium) by another name.

 

Lay off Jenna and Barbara Bush.  I mean it.  Expecting spoiled heiresses to behave as something other than spoiled heiresses is foolish; treat them with the exact same contempt or bemusement you reserve for Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie.  Or else you've shown that, for every "oh my god that drunken brat is sticking her tongue out at the camera!" remark you make, you more than deserve all the nasty "Chelsea Clinton is a dog" comments that right-wingers used to make.  It was tasteless when they visited the perceived sins of the father and mother upon the children; it's still tasteless when you're doing it.

 

Well, I don't know about you, but I feel better now.  I'm off to watch the Yankees game, and I don't want to hear another word about how evil the team is.