Tom Wark from Fermentation has been gearing up for the 2009 North American wine bloggers conference with many a post on the activity of wine blogging, making me wonder if he is temporarily indulging in the 'navel gazing' essential to the blogger character.
He makes a couple of interesting points about the differences and similarities between wine blogging and writing, which are not just confined to the world of wine but to journalism in general and the use of new media.
Wark does state that one of the key characteristics of wine writing is to educate readers and wine lovers (and he hopes for a day when the sniping between writers and bloggers will end). He left out one thing though, about wine blogging, which is important to me and my blog: educating myself.
His thoughts are as follows:
Wine Bloggers, however, should recognize that those writers who make their way into traditional media outlets have in fact done so by proving themselves. I would argue that the vast majority of writers working in mainstream wine media do have more experience, more perspective, a deeper well of wine knowledge and more at stake in their writing than most wine bloggers. They have been plucked by experienced editors at money-making enterprises to represent the enterprise and provide their customers with high quality content.
But those who write for mainstream media must understand that the new corps of wine bloggers represent something important. They tend to possess a passion for wine and communicating that is second to none in the wine industry. They tend to be uber-champions of the average wine drinker. And if they seem to be navel gazers at times it's because they recognize far better than the mainstream wine media that blogging and on-line content will revolutionize the way wine lovers educate themselves. And these wine bloggers believe they have responsibility to make this medium as meaningful as possible.
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