Or The Curse of the Woman Who Didn’t Know When To Shut Up.
Difference between bloggers and journalists
A few weeks ago, the ever-excellent Matthew Teller hosted a debate on his blog about the difference between bloggers and journalists.
It’s something of a hoary old debate, but some excellent points were raised. Key amongst these are that journalists get edited and bloggers – by and large – don’t.
A platform for all
My personal view is that the title – blogger, writer, columnist, journalist – doesn’t matter. Everyone should be judged on the quality of what they write. What the blogosphere changes is the number of people given a platform. Anyone can set up a blog and spout off about what they like. Sometimes this leads to brilliant writing, useful information dissemination and must-read insight.
Dull writing
More often than not, alas, it leads to turgid, generic wordblather that could just as easily have been turned out by a trained dolphin picking out random excerpts from tourist board press releases. Some of the bloggers who do this are inexplicably popular – largely, I suspect, because there is an informal network of similar bloggers indulging each other in relentless cross-promotion.
But this isn’t necessarily a failure of blogging as a medium – there’s enough turgid, generic wordblather printed in traditional newspapers and magazines to turn the Amazon into a barren plain.
One of the worst travel guides you’ll ever see
The real problem comes when material is published on blogs that is so outrageously awful that it becomes misleading. For example of this, look no further than this execrable piece on doing Dubai on a budget. It is written by someone who managed to spend US$10,000 in a week and a half – and that’s including getting free accommodation most of the way due to her clearly being on a junket sponsored by Intercontinental Hotels. Not that there is any disclosure of this junket – it’s just obvious from the fact that the only hotels mentioned as budget accommodation options are owned by Intercontinental Hotels.
Straight from the guidebook?
Most of the other information, if not ripped straight out of someone else’s guidebook, may as well have been. The author rarely offers any indication that she has actually been to Dubai, and when she does, the true horrors emerge.
The worst bits
A couple of sample paragraphs:
“Lunch and other dinners can be eaten at McDonalds, Kentucky Fried Chicken (very popular in Dubai), and other cheap eateries. I have made it a tradition to eat at international McDonald’s around the world.”
And…
“Try to visit the poor areas of Dubai like the town of Deira to people watch and take photos. As any place, Dubai has non wealthy areas known as the slums.”
Is this really budget Dubai?
Both stagger me. So the way to enjoy Dubai on a budget is to eat a Big Mac and take pictures of poor people in ‘slums’? (Incidentally, having been to Deira, I can safely say that whilst standards of housing are lower, ‘slum’ in the sense that any normal person would know it – ie. Mumbai, South African townships – is way off the mark.)
What we essentially have here is a writer who can’t stick to a budget herself, writing what masquerades as a guide to doing a destination on a budget. She has clearly done little independent research, she shows no insight and she continually slips in completely out-of-context mentions for companies that have given her free stuff. It’s an appalling piece of at best misleading and at worst deceitful writing, and should never have been published.
Second class citizens
But because it’s a blog, it can be published. And that, in a nutshell, is why bloggers are likely to remain as second class citizens in comparison to commissioned journalists unless something changes rather drastically.
It’s fine when it comes to spouting opinion – everyone’s entitled to their own. But when it comes to presenting information and guidance, then it is logical to defer to someone who has been commissioned and paid – by someone who is, in turn, hired and paid to do the commissioning and editing. This is not to say that a blogged guide can’t be better than one in a newspaper – often it can – but that when a commissioned journalist has had a guide accepted and edited, more checks and balances are in place.
Not bad for a blog
It was telling that when I Tweeted criticising this article, I was told by someone whose views I respect that I was being a bit harsh. My correspondent said that it wasn’t too bad ‘for a blog post’, although obviously it was unacceptably poor as a commissioned article.
My response was “Why should there be any difference?” Why shouldn’t a guide be exacted to the same scrutiny whether published on a blog, in a newspaper or in a book?
How to repair a Yamaha FJR1300A
Alas, everyone can blog, whether they know what they’re talking about. I could make my next blog post an 800-word guide to repairing a Yamaha FJR1300A motorbike if I wanted to. That I don’t know what I’m talking about is irrelevant – I CAN do it.
The web is full of people writing things because they can and they’re entitled too. Little thought is paid to whether they should do so or can genuinely offer a useful slant/ insight. And this is the stumbling block that all good bloggers face – your work and medium is denigrated by the millions who don’t know when to shut up.
Tags: blogging, budget travel, online travel, PR, travel media, Travel Writing, Twitter
Yeah, that was a shitty article. Because anyone can publish on the internet, it is easy to find examples of bad writing on blogs.
The thing is, there is a lot of shitty writing in print too. While I’m not going to defend bloggers as a group, I also don’t think it is right to just assume that if you are paid by a print publication, that what you produce is automatically good.
I think the reason why bloggers are looked down is much bigger than the quality of writing. If it was only bad writing by a few people, then good bloggers wouldn’t suffer from the same stigma…but they are.
The real big picture reason is economic. Bloggers are disrupting the status quo. Writers are losing their jobs and the rates for freelance gigs is dropping and will never come back up. Bloggers didn’t didn’t have to go through the same process of paying their due and that really pisses old media people off. They also bought into their own self importance over the years which plays into things.
Not all writers have this attitude. There are many I’ve met who can accept bloggers as equals and many who have made, or who are making, the transition to self publishing.
I don’t think that readers care what the author of a travel article/post wants to call themselves, they care that what they read is informative, useful and/or entertaining.
A bit difference is that a commissioned journalist will be paid for writing whereas a blogger won’t. Even a freelance journalist has a good chance of being paid for their piece. The only avenue open for bloggers to generate income is through advertising on their blog. Even if a blogger goes on an expenses paid press trip, they are taking a few days to go on the trip and then write blog posts about the trip, with no guarantee of any income from this time spent. You’ve got to look at the opportunity cost, if I spend four days on a trip and another day writing several posts, I could have spend that five days approaching advertisers, doing SEO, writing five days worth of posts. Therefore going on a trip (even if it’s free) to visit a destination, to actually experience it for yourself to write more authentically is an expensive undertaking. Chances are a blogger could generate more income sitting at the computer for five days churning out SEO optimised posts on popular destinations.
I do get rather frustrated at times, when I see blogs which I think don’t have the quality content of my own blog, Europe a la Carte, getting large traffic volumes and a lot of media attention. Probably they’re better at SEO and have more connections than me.
Hi Gary. I totally agree with you – I see myself as both a blogger and travel journalist. One is not necessarily better than the other. And you’ll not find a more strident critic of some of the dross that passes as travel writing in newspapers/ magazines.
Many journalists have a deluded sense of self-importance. But my point in this post is largely about how being edited and being commissioned by people paid to discern does add an extra layer or two of authority. I’m not saying it does so rightly or wrongly, just that it does.
And that element of selection does have certain inherent credibility advantages over self-publication.
Great post [or should I say, article?
].
Travel writing is at an interesting period in its history.
On the one hand newspapers are declining, so less of the supposed professional/quality writing is being read.
While on the other hand the general standard of travel writing on the web is pisspoor at best.
I can’t remember the last time I read the travel section of a newspaper to get inspiration about a destination.
So much of the content is just vacuous nonsense. Me, me, me. Or “I’m going to tell you how ass-achingly trendy this place is, but it’s a shame really because by the time you come here it’ll be soooooo last year.”
But then I never read travel blogs for almost the same reasons.
Personal preference is for the writer to talk about the destination, not themselves – something many bloggers struggle with.
Still not sure what the answer is though.
As a counterpoint, I would say there are *some* fine writers out there and – for the record – I can’t write poetic, fluffy or wonderfully descriptive destination copy, just in case anyone was thinking I was having a moan because I needed some work.
I agree with most of the points raised above (how dull!) Terrible writing exists in both traditional media and in blogs. Personally I’m not bothered about the blogger/journalist/writer debate because I don’t fit neatly into one category anyway.
At present, I think that bloggers in general have less credibility than “traditional journalists” for a number of reasons:
- People assume that blogs are not edited (which is usually true)
- If people think they can do something themselves, they tend to value it less (Hey, I can set up a blog in half an hour! That must mean that I can do what Gary does by lunchtime!)
- People don’t like change (that includes readers, editors, PR companies etc). With traditional media, people knew how to behave, who to contact, what to expect. Now, no-one really knows.
These debates always leave me wondering about two questions.
1) If writers in traditional media think bloggers are so hopeless, why do they care what they are up to? I suspect Gary’s economic points come in to play a bit here.
2) If so much popular writing is “bad” writing, then why is it so popular? Is it all about SEO and contacts? Or are we just the small band of folk who care about well written articles, while the rest of the world couldn’t give a *^*&?
@abi: I fear the latter part of point #2 is correct.
Hi David,
I wonder what happens when the journalist writes a blog? I author but I also balance full-time work in the media.
In truth I do often end up with typos and slight grammatical errors because as a general rule I only give what I’ve written a cursory glance.
What I do maintain however is a high-level of accuracy in my articles, even if it is subjective. It is true that there is a terrific amount of stuff in print written by journos that aren’t taking kick-backs, but in my honest opinion I think they’re the minority of articles. I struggle to read the travel section in most papers because it is so sickingly filled with endorsements, whether they are admitted or not.
Very few bloggers I know receive anything for free, so I in turn can place more faith in their hotel/hostel/transport/restaurant reviews and tips.
For the record hosting my blog actually costs me money, but I do it for myself, not to get rich on, hence a lack of SEO.
Gary makes some good points. Pity he can’t make them without being as abrasive as he is, but maybe that’s just me.
However, he’s placing way too much emphasis on resentment: the idea that journalists resent bloggers is a conceit, held by some bloggers who seem to have a chip on their shoulder about not having ‘made it’ in the real world of jobs and kudos. In my experience, journalists are too busy doing their jobs (and hoping they’ve still got jobs) to bother with all this petty stuff like resenting new media. Do people really think anyone cares that someone who’s been to 300 countries and shouts about it every day on a website hasn’t “paid his dues” (whatever they are)?
‘Old media’ as an industry is having trouble reshaping its payment models to a new economic reality – but ‘old media’ individuals are getting on with writing, blogging, tweeting, netbooking, iPhoning, iPadding & all the rest of it, same as large chunks of the rest of the world.
The idea that bloggers are disrupting the status quo is a tempting one – if you’re a blogger. Gives a nice warm glow of rebellion to think that a ‘community’ of ordinary folk typing travelogues into their laptops can make the media barons run scared. Baloney. Bloggers didn’t start anything. We’re an effect, not a cause. Don’t mix up the bandwagon with the people on it.
As someone who has recently turned to blogging from archaeological (academic and popular) writing, the post and the comments after make for very interesting and instructive reading. I think there are two points, one alluded to.
1. As GT points out anyone can now blog. The consequence of this that the traditional means of judging ‘authority’ have now been eroded. Sometimes, as with the Dubai example, it is obvious to most (bit probably not all) that the author is out to lunch (or not). Now in some cases this loss of ‘authority’ is no bad thing. I have just started a blog about Monet and Giverny in Normandy, I am not an art historian, but I am an archaeologist and do know a great deal about Impressionism because it has been an interest of mine for years. Now that I live in Normandy, I choose to blog about it – for various reasons. Traditionally, my voice would not have been heard. But I think I do have something to offer. What is missing however in many readers is some critical facility to judge the value in what they are reading. That is doing damage to those of us who do take care in our research and writing.
2. My Monet blog does not bring home the bacon, and I do not expect it to ever do that. To make some pocket money I write posts on a daily basis for a shop selling luxury watches. I knew nothing about watches when I started, but I could write. In doing this ‘job’ I have seen the same press releases about new watches I receive posted on other watch blogs in the most appalling way, blogs that have been set up by some reputable retailers. But they do not care that the post is not even intelligible – they are only having someone blog for them for SEO purposes – they do not even care about readers of those blogs – its the backlinks they are after. And that person is probably being paid $1 per 200 words if he/she is lucky – just have a look at the calls for ‘bloggers’ on websites like Freelancer.
“Everyone should be judged on the quality of what they write” – is right, David.
I therefore find it hard to accept the comment by Jamie that he sometimes ends up with typos and `slight grammatical errors` because as he admits to only giving it a cursory glance to his blog.
Sorry, if you write anything in the public arena, it has to be correct, even if it isn`t good….and you`re only doing yourself an injustice to make such an admission.
@Christine – I agree by and large, but often find typos and spelling mistakes slipping into my own blog posts after I’ve published them, so I’m not going to be too critical of the odd finger slip. In fact, there were a couple in this post when it first went out.
Interestingly, it goes back to Matthew’s original point about the difference being editing. It’s incredibly hard to proofread and edit your own work as you often see what it’s supposed to say rather than what it does say.
@matthew Well said sir. Most ‘old media’ types couldn’t give two hoots about bloggers, let alone resent them. I suspect most value and praise the good ones, and pour scorn on the bad.
@Abi I fear you may be correct. It’s the readers, not the writers, that are a real worry.
The quick answer would be some kind of rating system … but who does the rating, and who rates the raters?
No easy answer, I’m afraid.
Hi David,
Boy, you are grumpy!
I totally agree with you that there’s a lot of trash out there, both in print and in blogs. That article on Dubai was pretty sad, too bad for those who commissioned it. I once read an article in a respected Dutch daily – the so-called travel journalist was commissioned to write a series of articles on Malaysia. The first article was a shocker: he used a photo of Malacca and captioned it as Kuala Lumpur. The article itself was full of PR-speak, it was probably copied over from brochures. There are quite some blogs that do similar jobs. One post I read, not so long ago, was about sightseeing in Paris; I closed the window as soon as I’d opened it as the headline photo was a picture of the Eiffel Tower copy in Las Vegas (the Statue of Liberty in the background gave it away).
That said, there are many excellent travel bloggers who do a superb job. I see it as my mission to promote these travel bloggers as there are many others who do a decent writing job but it’s (probably) their advanced SEO skills that get them in the spotlight.
Personally, I don’t quite care about the journalist vs. blogger debate. I care a lot more about the writing and, as Karen rightly says, whether the post is informative, useful and/or entertaining.
On a final note, I recently published an article about the role travel bloggers can play in marketing destinations (on my Velvet Connect blog). That Dubai case (above) is a good example of poor blogger selection if you ask me. If a PR agency or tourism office is open to inviting travel bloggers for a fam trip, then blogger selection must be paramount. The quality and variety of their content, engagement with their audience and their influence on social media platforms (like Twitter or fb) are some of the factors that have to be taken into consideration during the selection process. Using only traffic stats & demographics to pick a good blogger just isn’t sufficient. My experience is that PR agencies still have quite some way to go in understanding and executing an effective blogger selection process.
Thanks for writing this article! Love a good rant!
Cheers,
Keith
PS/ I appreciate your opinion of my blog. If you read more of it, like my Till It’s Gone or Travelations piece, maybe you’d have a different opinion. Thanks for sharing your opinion in any case.
Cheers,
Keith
I’m a journalist-turned-blogger-turned-freelancer, so it’s interesting to read all of these comments.
To me, it’s the quality and reliability of your work that makes you stand out from writers such as the one used in the example. I haven’t given up my journalistic sensibilities, now that I’m blogging.
In fact, I would argue that my work on my blog is BETTER than what I wrote for newspapers, because I’m able to be a little more conversational with my tone. I still take things such as fact-checking and grammar seriously (although I admit, I do write a lot faster online so occasionally typos do get in. Luckily, readers tell me and I fix them quickly.
As far as taking bloggers seriously, well, who are you asking? More and more readers are abandoning the print product because, as many of you have pointed out, the writing in many newspapers section isn’t that great. Even when I was still at a newspaper, I was scanning online trip reports to get “boots on the ground” info on a destination when making booking decisions, and I suspect other readers are doing the same.
A great travel blogger can gain authority with readers, if they deliver the information that they need in the medium that they want it. I think both bloggers AND journalists are trying to do this.
Once you have that authority, you can monetize it with your ads and products, supplemented by freelance assignments (to be fair, I’m just starting this process so I don’t have figures of my own to back it up). But I see travel bloggers such as Chris Elliott, Nomadic Matt and Johnny Jet making a living by following this formula, so it works on some level.
If travel writers are too busy to resent anyone, it only holds true for the people who can still find employment as a travel writer. As for the writers who have lost their jobs or find themselves in a position of trying make a living while earning a fraction of what they did in the past for a story, I think there is plenty of time for resentment.
Travel publications are dying. The number of travel editors at major newspapers in the US can almost be counted on one hand. National Geographic Adventure just died. Almost every publication has slashed the rates they pay freelancers. I’m sure some will survive, but it will only be a fraction of what existed before.
It doesn’t matter if bloggers are a cause or an effect. They are the poster children for the economic shift which is taking place. They are visible scapegoats for what is otherwise an invisible villan: the internet. That is where the resentment comes into play. The “professionals” who went to J-school and did everything right are finding themselves looking for work, while nobodies with no experience or training are gaining a following and making money. Of course that can build resentment. It doesn’t matter if Rupert Murdoch ever read a travel blog or not.
Some old media people are making the adjustment, but the adjustment isn’t a technical one. It is an economic one. Anyone can start a wordpress site and use Twitter. That part is easy. The real adjustment is moving from the mindset of an employee or a freelancer to that of an independent publisher. Moving from an institutional to an entrepreneurial mindset. That is very difficult.
As for bloggers having chips on their shoulders… the funny thing is, the travel bloggers having the most success today have no background in journalism at all. They have business backgrounds. They were quite successful at “real jobs” which is how they translated it into success at blogging.
You suggest that the key difference between journalists and bloggers is that journalists are edited. In fact, bloggers are edited as well – by the readers.
The public knows the difference between good writing and bad, and real stories and those stolen from press releases. They edit bloggers by bouncing from the site and support those they like by subscribing.
While the page views of some blogs may be high due to blogger support and astute SEO, the numbers of unique visitors and visitor loyalty tell the real story.
Just like any newspaper or journal, not all blogs will suit all people. Fortunately, the reader has choice.
Is the quote that explains it all: you have slipped the word “commissioned” into the equation…
Usually bloggers are far from “commissioned”
Cheers
@janice – disagree entirely that the readers are a bloggers editor…
there are some blogs out there with huge traffic and respect but the writing is pisspoor, badly researched and PR-driven.
and, you might say, the same for mainstream media, too.
this isn’t a debate about journos vs bloggers…
this is rare quality vs widespread mediocrity.
Don’t know where anyone gets the idea that bloggers go on a trip and don’t get paid for it. If you go back and read the long thread on Jeremy Head’s site from last Dec., wherein someone was looking to host a press trip to Chile, you’ll note more than one blogger demanding not only a fully comped trip but a per diem rate “because we’re away from home , and can’t make our usual money while on the road.”
But seriously, I don’t know where some of the generalizations about travel writers are coming from in this thread. I can’t speak for other travel writers I read frequently online like David or Lara (Dunston), as opposed to travel bloggers who do sit at home the majority of the time “resenting” travel writers going on JetBlue press trips to Jamaica or wherever else in the world hardcore bloggers weren’t invited to yet — while jumping on the gravy train right away on far more ethically questionable bloggers-only jaunts to Honduras, Belize, Hawaii and Princess Cruises — but really, travel writers have a lot more on their minds than wondering about what anyone else is doing. Really. Most of us do indeed have a prior business background, we just don’t need to run it up a flagpole to justify the business models we’ve arrived at in travel writing. Personally, I come from a long line of entrepreneurs, I wouldn’t even be sitting here writing this without their entrpreneurial spirit and publishers will always be out there, much as (failed) writers turned bloggers might dislike the fact. Travel writers are entrepreneurs by definition – that other definition of “entrepreneur” put out there by a basically narrow circle and subset of travel bloggers is a very single-model definition of the word that is just so much bullshite as far as the claim that it’s the only way to be online or even write successfully.
In other words, what Kevin May said at the end of his post above. That says it for me too, I think.
Ladies and gents. I have had one comment that has come up for moderation from a fake e-mail address that was essentially a big slag off of another commenter. I’ve not approved this comment.
I am not prepared to publish personal attacks from people hiding behind the veil of anonymity. If you want to say something, then please be prepared to be accountable for it.
On a separate note… @Kevin – yes, I agree, this is largely about good work versus mediocre (and often worse than mediocre) blather). I think if I had to sum my point up in a nutshell, it would be much the same. But blogging lacks those layers of filtration and provides a platform for a tidal wave of mediocrity (or worse). There is some excellent travel blogging out there – I think Andy of 501places does a great job, for example.
But there is far more dross than gold. And while people are prepared to accept that dross as being ‘alright for a blog’ then the travel blogging fraternity will always have an image problem.
Hold the front page!
Maybe there is hope for journalists yet – BBC report today says youngsters in the US dropping blogging in favour or “shorter and more mobile forms of communication”…
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/8497427.stm
I don’t care if a person carries the title ‘journalist or blogger’- for me it has to be about quality.
Call me old fashioned but I still enjoy reading CN Traveller in print (gasp!) because I find the articles to be informative and well written. Equally I enjoy reading blog posts from Lara Dunston, in fact I would love to hear her thoughts on this topic as I have seen her described as both travel writer and blogger.
I have to agree with David and don’t think he was being harsh about the Dubai article. The same scrutiny should apply!
[...] previous post – Bloggers vs Journalists: Why bloggers are second class citizens – seems to have stirred up quite a [...]
As I was one of the people re-tweeting that appalling Dubai post with dismay and horror, and as my name has been mentioned twice, I thought I’d better chime in…
David, you’ve really excelled your grumpy self this time – hilarious!
Matthew, beautifully written response too.
Totally agree with you also, Hal and Kevin.
Karen, I think you’re dead right about the role of connections and SEO skills over the ability to produce quality content – I find it very sad.
Guido makes an insightful point about another big difference, that writers are “commissioned”, a point I also made on a recent post (was it yours Jeremy?) when a blogger (Pam from Nerds Eye View perhaps?) expressed frustration with the use of “professional” to describe writers but not bloggers.
For me, the differences between bloggers and writers are all of these things – that they are commissioned, that writing is how they make their living, that their work is edited, and – something often overlooked – that they are trained in and (morally/professionally) bound by ethics and law – all of which are things that go with being involved in any ‘industry’.
While I love reading a whole bunch of blogs I visit regularly, I would have a lot more respect for more of the blogs out there if they were more ‘professional’ – better edited mainly, but commissioned would also be nice, because I’m really getting fed up with bloggers who are constantly plugging particular hotels, or travel gear, or even particular PR people. While I respect their honesty and appreciate the new requirements in the US for them to do so, it’s just getting really tiresome. More models need to be explored.
Lisa, if pressed I’d say I consider myself to be a professional travel writer who also blogs. Because when I’m busy as a writer, it’s my blog that gets neglected because my focus is on the work that pays. Interestingly, this year Terry and I are being paid by HomeAway Holiday Rentals to both blog and write – they see value in both print and social media.
I studied writing (and filmmaking) at university and I have been getting paid to write for over 20 years. I have a colossal amount of respect for the journalistic profession. I love great journalists and admire what they do. I also enjoy reading blogs, but I don’t remember great blog posts in the way I recall a brilliant piece from Vanity Fair or the New Yorker or a superb Australian political paper that died some years ago called The National Times.
I know people like Gary like to think the professional writer/journalist is a dying breed, but I just got paid $2000 to write a story that took me two days to do, and I had three good commissions come in last week (that sadly I don’t have time to accept), so print is not dead yet.
I also think Gary has no real idea about what we actually do. I’m hardly ‘old media’ (gosh, this just reminds me of the tedious film versus video argument of 10-15 years ago), I also write for digital and have written everything from walking tours for SONY PSP to content for travel sites – none of which would be considered ‘old media’ by traditional journalists. And I bet David, Matthew, and others above have too. The generic and formal boundaries are a lot more blurred than Gary thinks – once again, the difference lies in things like editing, commissioning, ethics/law, rather than print (old) versus digital (new) media.
In the end it’s all about content, and it doesn’t matter what results those search engines produce when a reader googles, if the content is not well-written and compelling, they’re not going to stick around.
Gosh, David, sorry for the lengthy response! That’s because I haven’t been edited and I don’t have time to re-read my response, because a deadline for a paid assignment awaits!
Interesting read and comments. Agree that not having the need to be commissioned is an issue, and the lack of editing likewise.
I think one point that hasn’t really been discussed here is the role social tools like Twitter and StumbleUpon serve to let the rubbish float to the surface — or at least be continually tossed at your window. Twitter in particular, is a tool ideal for circumventing the fact that no search engine is ever going to rank some of the dribble that is being written. I regularly see travel bloggers (I’m sure this is the same in other fields as well) with tens of thousands of followers tweeting complete trash (snatch from Wiki, add a sentence and post) — I’ve stopped following most, but the retweeting brings it back to my feed over and over. Why do people retweet inane and factually incorrect rubbish? Mutual back scratching perhaps? beats me — but they do — hourly.
As per Lara, I don’t agree that freelancing is dying at all — it perhaps is more difficult, especially in the US, to get a gig, but it isn’t at death’s door. Especially if you look at the non-English press: take Thailand for example — 2009 saw the launch of 39, yes 39, new magazines. Not all travel related of course, but in some places, print continues to flourish.
Yes there’s no shortage of dire writing — but I don’t get too wound up about it anymore — unfollow, cancel subscription, de-friend — it’s easy!
@lara
It is a dying industry.
Just because some people are able to keep getting work doesn’t deny the general problems which the industry as a whole are facing. Publications are going out of business, rates for freelances have gone down, staff journalists are being fired, newspapers are hiring few full time travel editors. I don’t think any of that can be denied. For every tweet I hear about a writer getting a great deal like yours, you see many more complaining about low rates or the lack of work. One example doesn’t disprove a general proposition. It might not be dead yet, but it is dying.
I’m not even sure why that is a controversial statement given how overwhelming the data is.
Certainly as things get worse people will still be employed. Good, experienced writers will still be able get work even as the ship is sinking. If you can get $2000 for a story that takes two days to write, then all the power to you. I have no problem with writers. I someone is willing to give you money to do something you love, you should take it. If someone offered me that much money for two days work I’d take it too.
You are also confusing what I mean by “old” vs “new” media. It isn’t just a matter of having things published on the internet vs being published on dead trees. I’m talking about a business model. I also know that the lines between old and new aren’t always so bright for writers. There are many writers who either have or are employed by old media companies who have blogs, several of which I think do a great job of blogging and really get the new medium. Lara, I think the recent year long project you started is great and something more bloggers should be looking at as a model.
In the long run, I do not think business of providing words in exchange for cash is something which is going to be sustainable. The supply of people who want to be travel writers is growing and the rates are dropping. They are never going to come back up. You might have gotten $2,000 for two days work, but if the publisher is savvy, they will know they can probably hire someone for much less next time. Even if the quality of what you produce is far above average, the decline in advertising revenue means they will have no choice but to cut rates.
I just found this interesting post & conversation. I have to agree that “Terrible writing exists in both traditional media and in blogs.” Yet I also find this is true with all writing today in this fast growing information age where everyone can be a publisher and traditional media is in a panic.
In these economic reset and exponential times, this trend will continue and I have been amazed at how many new travel blogs have entered the scene since we began our world tour in 2006.
I love Chris Elliott’s classic “Can You Trust a Travel Writer”:
http://www.elliott.org/the-tra.....el-writer/
In my short time in the travel industry I’ve found out that money is the key influence for travel journalists and bloggers & both are usually not traveling very much. It’s hard to be on the move and write plus do all the other keys that are necessary today from editing video to Facebook.
Quality will mean different things to different people & interestingly, it’s not the best written blogs ( in travel or other realms) that are the top blogs necessarily. Same is true about the drivel in popular traditional media pieces. Yawn.
SEO, Social media, gaming things like Alexa ratings, friends in the right places, good design, PR, popular videos and photos, unique perspective, multi-authored content and more things play a part.
I didn’t set out to be a travel writer or a business, plus I have done absolutely zero SEO on our site and never got around to writing one press release or getting my media kit/press page up. We’re too busy traveling the world & educating our child.
Yet, I was interviewed in the the New York Times, write for the Huffington Post, called a “travel guru” by the UK Guardian, have had over 3 million views from our Soultravelers3 Youtube videos and am authoring a book that my agent thinks will be a best seller etc. etc.
Funny thing is, I didn’t go after any of the above, they came to me out of the blue. I’m still amazed & stunned.
I think the debate between travel writers and travel bloggers is a mute one today and that trend will continue. Writing is only part of the job today and one does not have to go to journalism school to be a success. Read “Here Comes Everybody”.
The good news? The readers get to decide and there are many niches in travel. Both bloggers & journalists should pay attention to digital nomad/location independent style travel that is a fast growing trend that will have a big impact on travel now that people can work and school any where.
Travel bloggers have let out the secret that travel doesn’t have to be expensive & many people are more interested in that than long pretty prose articles about holidays & vacations that will cost a fortune for a week or two of fun.
I also have to agree with Matthew that “Gary makes some good points. Pity he can’t make them without being as abrasive as he is”.
I do have to disagree with Gary’s point that “They were quite successful at “real jobs” which is how they translated it into success at blogging.”. Sure, a few like Gary and I have this background, but timing had as much to do with it as anything.
Many successful travel bloggers, ( & regular bloggers and hot journalists) are 20-somethings not long out of school. They just happen to be savvy, passionate, risk-taking digital natives who understand the new media/social media/new economy dynamic and how to take advantage of it.
As a print journalist and travel blogger at “What a Trip” I agree that print media is a dying industry.
My college-bound daughter asked me about a career in journalism, as I am a J school graduate. While I see value in solid writing skills, I would not currently recommend a journalism degree.
With outlets such as the Huffington Post asking bloggers to write for free, bloggers will continue to be viewed as second class citizens. What other industry expects their content providers to work for free?