Political blogging / Journalism - no comments

I spotted this excellent cartoon at the irritant.

One of the things I like least about blogging (especially so, having been guilty of a touch of this myself) is the type of blog perpetrated by the person who fancies themselves as a proper journalist: self-righteous, pompous, grandiloquent, and blustering. Irrespective of the political viewpoint and whether or not you actually agree with their point, the style and tone of the articles is guaranteed to get on peoples' nerves and lose them sympathy.

It's even less pleasant to find your own article the target of some self-styled 'crusader for truth' whose main motivation is to make you look like a prat and them an intellectual heavyweight in the eyes of as many people as possible.

I'm not entirely anti-"blogging as journalism", but it's also a place for ordinary people with their own views, with new ideas, and a place for debating. By no means (in my opinion) would I say that journalists and columnists have the right, or even the monopoly on intellect required to steamroller other people, just to fuel their own egos and nurture their coterie of loyal readers.

I won't be mentioning any names, but I can think of a few, as I'm sure can you.