Quality Writing

I have been frustrated lately by poor writing on blogs.  I know that I should expect this from blog-writers: we are amateur writers, writing quickly and writing frequently.  However, many of my frustrations are actually with those who are considered professional journalists and are writing poorly (to be fair: this is mostly local).  They should be worried about these citizen journalists we call bloggers taking over the news-sharing business; the good blog writers are more thorough, yet concise, and more articulate than many of our local journalists.Why am I thinking about this today?

• NY Times article today about "hyperlocal websites." The idea: with the newspaper business suffering, local coverage is suffering.  These "hyperlocal websites" compile links and information from community bloggers, "along with data feeds from city governments, with crime reports, restaurant inspections, and notices of road construction and film shoots."  Some even hire journalists: "One journalist in each town travels to school board meetings and coffee shops with a laptop and camera. Patch also solicits content from readers, pulls in articles from other sites and augments it all with event listings, volunteer opportunities, business directories and lists of local information like recycling laws."  And while many of these start-ups are relying on traditional newspapers for some of their content, "many hyperlocal entrepreneurs say they are counting on a proliferation of blogs and small local journalism start-ups to keep providing content."  I love this idea of community reporting and sharing.  The Arkansas Times already does some of this locally, but we could definitely use more.  (FYI: Blake's Think Tank has been advocating something like these "hyperlocal websites" for some time now.)
• "The Poetry in Your Head." A few weeks ago, I wrote a post to Twitterers suggesting that they take their writing cues from poetry.  Today, I stumbled upon the "On Point" NPR radio show about memorizing lines of poetry.  The host says: "In the era of the iPod, Americans can have anything they like, anytime, in their ears: hot music, the news, this show.  Jim Holt knows that, says it’s fine, but he’s stumping for something more. Something ancient. Something so old it’s new again: memorizing poetry."  Jim Holt also wrote an article for the New York Times Sunday Book Review about memorizing poetry.  In neither the radio show nor the aricle does he claim that this memorization will make a person a better writter.  However, I want to believe it will; an increase in vocabulary, in word combinations and in rhythm could surely come from poetry memorization.  As writers, we should want all of these things.
• Who needs the media when "content distributers" can go straight to the consumer? I know this is not exactly a valid argument since "content distributers" (advertisers/brands, celebrities, government, etc.) would hold back all the "bad" news if they were totally in control.  However, with consumers talking back in our two-way communication model that is the Internet, it is now much harder for companies to hide anything.  It is our new transparent world.  And consumers are in control.

So, I talk about wanting quality writing (typically provided by professional and experienced journalists), then advocate citizen journalists (those amateur bloggers).  Really what I want is quality content delivered in a quality format.  It doesn't matter who or what gives it to me, but someone or something needs to stand up and deliver.