Outlook Year-End Special

As expected, Outlook’s year-end issue is comprehensive. You need lot of quality time to read the whole issue. I just happened to glance through the blogging related pieces in the issue. Amit Varma, Jai Arjun Singh and T R Vivek have written the various articles. It’s good to see articles that don’t refer to blogs as mere online journals or personal diaries.

Amit Varma writes about the power of blogs and the freedom this online medium has given to him:

It is true that in the hands of mediocre writers, the freedom that blogging affords can lead to self-indulgence. But I've found over the past year that the blogosphere is meritocratic, and readers are quick to sort out the wheat from the chaff. This is a new medium, and there's space for plenty more wheat.

T R Vivek makes some references to the role played by bloggers during the floods and the tsunami relief efforts:

A week later, when floodwaters recede, Superblogger and Hourlyblogger, along with 50 others, meet at the tony Amethyst coffee shop. And over some overpriced Ceylone tea, they agree that blogs and bloggers were indeed heroes during the disaster.

Jai Arjun Singh on how blogs don’t serve as a threat to MSM:

That said, the hoary Bloggers vs Mainstream Media (MSM) debate is a non-issue. Most leading topical bloggers are aware of how limited their reach is. They see themselves as complementing the MSM's work, not taking it on—if they perform a corrective role by drawing attention to the MSM's mistakes, they are no less harsh with other bloggers. Admittedly, because of the medium's nature (and the low net penetration in India), it's difficult to provide quantifiable evidence of what a blog has accomplished.