Blogs Get with the Times

The New York Times is undoubtedly one of the best - if not the best - news publications made available to us today. For many other sources distributing the news, it is a force to be reckoned with, to say the least. One of the things that makes the New York Times so successful is that its staff has managed to capture the writing trends of today, while still producing news that confirms and appeals to a more antiquated and traditional style. This has especially been made possible through their use of two mediums - an online news hub and a printed newspaper. Obviously, the online site is the more popular, or societally-smart, medium. It is updated continuously and has articles written with a quick, easy-to-understand, and easy-to-read tone. All of these traits, which harness immediacy and efficiency, appeal to the masses. On the other hand, its news stories focus more on facts and less on opinions and are also published in a newspaper. These are, of course, traits that make the NYT seem more refined and acceptable by the more traditional sense of news reporting.

I, personally, have been reading the online publication of the New York Times, as well as a couple of other blogs to receive my news. While the NYT and blogs are fundamentally different, I think many similarities can be drawn between the two. For example, The Daily Dish - one of the blogs I am following - which is written by Andrew Sullivan, covers much of the same news that the NYT covers - like the healthcare debate, for example. While of course his blog presents the news with a slight bias and demands reader involvement, it achieves the same tasks of the NYT. Both sources of news are just that - sources of news. They have something to say or some information to share and so, they say it. Both the NYT and The Daily Dish are educating me and keeping me informed. The only real difference is that when I read The Daily Dish, I not only get to read news presented by Andrew Sullivan, but also the opinions of a variety of people who write in about the issues. When I read the NYT, I read one article and move on to the next. There is no audience participation or sharing of ideas like there is in a blog.

I think the New York Times does a phenomenal job of actually doing its job and providing good and sound news. This is hard to come by today and deserves much credit. I think that blogs, too, also deserve credit, for they do the job of a newspaper, and then do some more.