Pages 30-31 of today’s Independent feature one of the best feature articles I’ve read in a long time. Usually, in a blogpost, I’d link to the article right about now… but it’s not online. I’ll come back to that in a moment.
A couple of days ago I had a bit of a dig at Robert Fisk and his attitudes to online journalism. “To hell with the web,” he said, suggesting a written word in newspaper is more trustworthy and valuable than one on the web.
It’s easy to understand his position. Newspapers are controlled by some very good laws which prevent the publication of libellous and false statements, among other things. At least, that’s what they do in theory (but that’s another debate all together). So it’s fair to see why Mr Fisk would trust newspapers a lot more.
And as for value — I’ve paid a whole quid to read what Fisk has to say. I’d pay nothing to view it online.
But here’s where I am genuinely curious about Mr Fisk’s opinions. As I said in my previous post, the Independent — like most qualities in the UK — doesn’t sell an awful lot each day. Just over 200,000 on average. And not everyone will read everything in the newspaper; especially seeing as Mr Fisk’s feature doesn’t get promoted on the frontpage, or the inside page, or even the front of the World section where it lives. No, the only mention of the article, as far as I can see, is the article itself.
A wasted opportunity? I’d say so.
Robert Fisk’s blog would be brilliant. Stunningly written features like today’s would feature every so often, and short, snappy anecdotal entries about his travels would go inbetween. He could be uploading photos, videos, whatever he pleases.
And we all know it would be brilliant. One of the best. We know we could trust it — the ‘Fisk’ brand is perhaps one of the strongest in journalism. I’d be an instant fan, and so would many more. Thousands more.
Just wait til Digg gets a hold of Mr Fisk’s work. And Matt Drudge. And the rest of the blogosphere. It has the potential to be seen by millions.
I’m sure Mr Fisk got into journalism for the same reasons we all did. To make money. Ha, I’m kidding. We all know the only reason we do this is because we believe we can, with the power of media, change the world. I’m truly baffled that such a brilliant journalist can snub the best way to get his work out there to the masses.
Mr Fisk, if by some form of internet wizardry you read this, I’d like to request that you start a blog. It’s very simple… start here. If you’re too busy, I’ll start it for you.
