Journalists vs. Bloggers: The Debate Continues
Posted on | August 16, 2010
Written by | Amanda Maynard
There has been a history of unfriendliness between print wine writers and the relatively new world of wine bloggers. Well-established writers such as Robert Parker and Anthony Dias Blue have both attacked bloggers in the past, using the best tools they know: words.
Since speaking out at odds with the blogger community, they have both adjusted their attitudes and now accept the group and welcome them to the fold. They (and others) have realized that bloggers are now a part of the wine realm. This is made evermore apparent by the annual Wine Bloggers’ Conference, which was recently held for the third year running.
The conference was held in Walla Walla, Washington from June 25th-27th. The conference brought together long time and brand new bloggers from all across the country (and some even further) to talk about wine, blogging, and the purpose of bloggers in the wine world.
Of the bloggers in attendance, quite a few are impressive, making the line between wine writing and wine blogging all the more blurry. A prominent figure widely known through the blogosphere is The Palate Press, run by Meg Maker (editor) and David Honig (publisher). It is the only free and fully online wine magazine. They don’t make print editions but it is much more like a magazine than any other web-only wine blog. Bloggers from all experience levels submit their story ideas to the site and they publish a large number of articles each week. They have created a community of writers in a central location, producing the best content possible for a free online magazine.
Another entity that is forging ahead with great content is CataVino.net, a Spain based wine blog run by a husband and wife team. Ryan and Gabriella Opaz are originally from the states but packed up everything and headed to Spain in 2005. They started up Cata Vino and it is now quite a rich source for information pertaining to Iberian wines and culture.
Along with the many wine bloggers, print based wine writers joined in. Steve Heimoff, editor of Wine Enthusiast, gave the keynote to welcome everyone to the conference. He talked about writing and blogging and the rivalry that has, in the past, been heated. He’s joined the blogging ranks and straddles the line of blogging and professional wine writing himself.
Lettie Teague of The Wall Street Journal also joined for another talk towards the end of the conference. The convergence of those who write for a living and those who write for hobby was something to notice and appreciate, as this wasn’t always the case.
With very professional and well spoken people on both sides of wine writing, it’s becoming harder and harder to find the difference between wine bloggers and wine writers.
The question posed at the conference was whether there is a difference between them. Are bloggers inherently different than those who write for print publications? This article is published both in print and in our blog format. On the side, I write my own wine blog. Am I now somehow a different writer because this has been published? You tell me.
Comments
5 Responses to “Journalists vs. Bloggers: The Debate Continues”
Recent Updates
- Key Transitions in the Growth of a Wine Store Website
- Catching the Buzz: Mining Digital Word of Mouth
- As Online Wine Sales Grow So Do The Challenges
- Chasing the Omni-Present Consumer
- Social Commerce starts to get interesting
- How can improved UPC standards help retail wine stores?
- How Market Conditions Affect Wine Sales Online
- Retailing Means Retooling: Smart Wine Merchants are Not Standing Pat
- Google Shifts Retailers’ Attention to 12 digits
- The Local and Mobile Future of eCommerce
- Massachusetts ABCC: Alcohol and Groupons Don’t Mix
- Social Media at Vino 2011
August 16th, 2010 @ 11:46 am
Amanda, the fact is that the vast majority of writers at print publications aren’t even journalists in the established sense of that word. They are people who write about wine. Journalists have training that no amount of sniffing and sipping can ever duplicate. The writer/blogger divide lessens each week that people like you do your posting. Though it is true that some print publications have editorial requirements that many blogs don’t that concern samples, trips, fact checking, etc., it’s also true that many bloggers (and writers, for that matter) adhere to their own guidelines in the very same way. And I’ve found while clicking on many blogs that the level of self-disclosure about one’s agenda seems no less open than is found in the print medium. You guys deserve far more credit than you have gotten, and it’s probably fair to say that much of the wariness of the mainstream press was simply a self-preservation reflex. It looks like what is happening is that the print types have figured out that your medium can’t be beat, so they’ll join it in some way or other. So, while there is a definitely a distinction between being a journalist and a writer, it seems that in the context you’re discussing, it’s more a distinction with very, very little difference. Keep blogging/writing. You guys add far more to the conversation than you detract from it.
August 17th, 2010 @ 2:39 am
Amanda, good article, and I look forward to reading other’s comments. My own experience after many year’s of watching this, i.e. by following Blogs such as Catavino from the start, is that the 2 are becoming harder to distinguish. The essential thing is for the Bloggers to keep their content interesting and professional!
I would also like to correct you. Catavino is an Iberian wine blog, not just a Spanish blog. Please do not forget us Portuguese winemakers, as we are very prominently covered by the Catavino team, thanks to all their energetic writing!
August 20th, 2010 @ 10:48 am
Todd: Thank you for your comment (for some reason I didn’t get the email notification until this morning so I apologize for the delay in my response). I agree with much of what you’ve said. The main differences between print writers and bloggers, at this point, are often whether or not they get paid for their writing and whether they have an editor. Yes, some wine bloggers do get paid, but often not full time wages. There are also places online with editors (Palate Press) so that’s a shrinking difference.
Blogging is gaining strength because people keep doing it and they keep doing it well. As long as that continues, the medium will persist. I see that for the foreseeable future.
August 20th, 2010 @ 10:52 am
Thank you for your comment, Carrie. I agree that they’re harder to distinguish. The bar for standards of quality in wine blogs is being raised and there are quite a few who are reaching and exceeding that.
Forgive my error. I do appreciate all that’s done in Portugal and will edit that in the article to make this information more correct.
September 10th, 2010 @ 8:54 am
[...] the top thing I did this summer: I got published! I wrote a small column for the print publication side of the company I work for (I work with the retailer e-commerce [...]