There Are No Such Things As Bloggers

Posted on April 25, 2012 by Danny Willis

Bloggers don’t exist.

Established media types have tried to draw a distinction between “journalists” and “bloggers” since blog became a word.  Whether it’s out of elitism, ignorance or protectionism isn’t clear and mostly irrelevant, but it boils down to the idea that journalists are established professionals and bloggers are hack amateurs playing reporter.  Those definitions are changing of course, especially now that the Huffington Post and Politico won Pulitzers and the big newspapers did not, but the definitions aren’t the problem.  The problem is more fundamental.

So for the sake of simplicity, here are three reasons “blogger” is a term that needs to go away:

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An Open Letter to the Two Guys Playing Call of Duty at 11:30 pm at Full Volume With the Window Open on a Weeknight

Posted on April 18, 2012 by Danny Willis

Dear Two Guys Playing Call of Duty at 11:30 pm at Full Volume With the Window Open on a Weeknight:

Listen, I get it.

Video games are fun.  People enjoy fun things.  You’ve got a friend over, or your roommate, or whatever, and you want to kick back and virtually shoot each other repeatedly.  I’ve had many of my own late-night video game sessions and, frankly, I don’t do it enough.  It’s a great release after a long day at work.

You know what else is great after a long day at work?  Sleep.  Which is really difficult when, even with my doors and windows closed, my bedroom sounds like London during the Blitz.

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An Open Letter To Geraldo Rivera

Posted on March 24, 2012 by Danny Willis

Mr. Rivera,

Seriously?

I mean, really?

I admit I’m not a minority so I don’t have first-hand knowledge, though I did get hassled by a cop just before writing this for matching a description of “a Hispanic male in a hooded sweatshirt” and you were Gerald Riviera when you had your Bar Mitzvah so I think we meet in the middle as far as qualifications, but if parents actually took your advice it would set racial equality and even civil rights back decades.

I’ll take your tweets one at a time: Continue reading →

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Yes, I hold opinions. No, I am not biased.

Posted on January 23, 2012 by Danny Willis

Since that I tweet more often about work-related things more readers are following me on Twitter.  And, of course, because we’re still buried neck-deep in the era of bitter partisanship, some are outraged over perceived biased.

Now I’m not getting defensive nor am I concerned that I’m actually biased.  This is because I probably can’t be biased both ways.  Democrats say I’m the evil Corporate Media protecting the interests of my 1% overlords, Republicans say I’m the evil Liberal Media advancing the interests of George Soros or something.  Everyone wants to be the underdog.

I do, however, want to clear some things up about how I roll. Continue reading →

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To my BANG colleagues: I’m going to get involved with the union and I need your help.

Posted on January 18, 2012 by Danny Willis

My apologies to anyone reading this who doesn’t work with me.  It’s a mix of boring office politics and how-sausage-is-made internal strife.  I won’t blame you if you skip it, it’s not exactly for you.

On the other hand, if you do work with me, I would appreciate if you read this and give it serious consideration.  It’s a subject I’ve gone out of my way to stay away from largely to avoid alienating my friends and respected colleagues, so if you sense yourself starting to judge me read it to the end before cementing your opinions.

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