Comments on: Difficile est bloggam non scribere!

By: Benjamin Mullikin

Benjamin Mullikin — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 23:26:34 +0000

Folles sine discentes verba iaciunt.

(Propter hoc verbum “bloggam” risi)

By: Ben Mullikin

Ben Mullikin — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 23:18:40 +0000

Folles sine discentes verba iaciunt.

It’s a shame that people don’t value education or academics anymore…

(Propter hoc verbum “bloggam” Risi)

By: Derek

Derek — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 18:08:13 +0000

I have a blog where I occasionally rant about this also. Sometimes I read supposedly “new” stories, which are actually old, or are in actual fact are just being sensationalised. A recent one that got my goat was regarding the notion that French wine would be on a boat being transported around the Mediterranean as somehow fantastic.

I’ve considered the idea that a good number of free-lance journalists just need to submit something, so they’ll take anything and sex it up a little.

By: Terrence Lockyer

Terrence Lockyer — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 16:41:57 +0000

While I too am not sanguine about the likelihood of journalists (increasingly over-worked and underqualified, as newsrooms are slashed and the emphasis is on publishing wire stories and “showbiz”) taking note, I am not quite so pessimistic about the possibilities for blogging and similar avenues, and the more the merrier; the point being to get things into search engines, and also to encourage people who do know better to contribute comments, posts, and tweets pointing away from the hype and to the facts and sources. Remember also the power of referral – the more people link to the better coverage, the more people are likely to read it. Drops in oceans, maybe, but it’s a start.

By: Mark Davidson

Mark Davidson — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 15:25:04 +0000

Since the media is often not bothering to check even Wikipedia before writing a story, how would better coverage on the blogs help to get better information to the public?

I’ve been following a particular news story (unrelated to classics) for about 2 years, both in the major media and on the blogs and forums. I’ve been unpleasantly surprised by how often the media get their facts wrong, or accept spin as fact. This is despite the careful objective analysis which has been done on some public forums, and discussed in detail. Summaries of checked facts, along with proper sources and references, are easily available, but are generally ignored by the media.

There are a few journalists who write knowledgeable and objective reports. But most just want a good story, as sensational as possible, and don’t really care how accurate or balanced it is.

Still – coming back to the classics – for the sake of those people who care, it would be useful to have a site which lists current news stories in the classics and gives expert commentary. This blog itself is something in that direction, and very useful. But perhaps what is needed is a forum format rather than a blog, where it’s easier to have open discussion of any story.