The MBA is not attempting to "professionalize" blogging

Posted February 4th, 2007 by Robert Cox
in

The media has been reporting on our newly announced plans for the MBA in the areas of education, legal and ethical advisory services, credentialing and so on. Some of it has been utter nonsense. In particular, the media has described our new initiatives as attempts to "professionalize" blogging and to create an "elite-tier" of bloggers.

Some bloggers including MBA Members have jumped on this bogus reporting to criticize the MBA (and me). I happen to agree with them. If we were actually attempting to do what has been reported in the press - "professionalize" blogging to create an "elite-tier" - I would be joining them in their criticism.

In fact, the exact opposite is the case.

Since any serious-minded blogger can join the MBA and since MBA members can take advantage of any opportunity we create for our members, the reality is that the MBA is evening the playing field for all bloggers.

Case in point, not a single member blogger who asked to be part of the MBA Libby Trial Feed was denied that opportunity. We even had two highly qualified bloggers who were not part of the MBA but wanted to be credentialed so we expedited their membership requests and added them to the feed. There are other bloggers at the trial from FireDogLake and they too were offered expedited membership in the MBA so they could be part of our feed and the AP deal. The woman who runs FDL has been in the hospital and so our efforts to sort that out was held up but I am going to DC tomorrow and hope to meet with her and try again to bring them into the MBA Feed.

I have been offered the opportunity to write an article about all of this for BlogCritics and will attempt to complete that piece this week. I will link it on my personal blog within the MBA site (wordsinedgewise.tv) and include that link in a future newsletter.

In the meantime, I would just remind members not to believe what they read in the newspapers when you can read my own words on the MBA site. The idea of "professionalizing" blogging is silly and the notion that the MBA has the power to create an "elite-tier" of bloggers flies in the face of reality - there is already an elite-tier of bloggers and their "eliteness" is determined by what they write and who reads them and has nothing to do with being anointed by anyone or any organization least of all the MBA.

Let there be no doubt - the MBA is diametrically opposed to these notions of "professionalizing" blogging and the creation of "elite-tiers" of bloggers.

NOTE: I had dinner last night at a Miami Blogging event tied to the We Media Conference and Jay Rosen asked for links explaining what I am referring to above. As I told Jay, I should have said that this post is a placeholder. I am going to write a piece for BlogCritics addressing this point - with links - but have just been too busy traveling to get this done. Hopefully, it will be done over the weekend.