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Entering the online world is always a painful process for print publications, which have decades, sometimes, centuries of human, technical, and financial resources invested in the world of the tangible printed object: a newspaper, a magazine, a pamphlet, a book.
But we’re all doing it. Spree has been a Johnny-come-lately to the world of online media production, but as we’ve figured out our situation, we’ve had the benefit of reading and enjoying the vibrant, energetic, and occasionally combative WNY blogosphere. It used to be that news about political happenings came primarily from press releases and through TV and newspaper reporting—and it still does—but now add to that daily blog commentary and regular emails talking about issues in a fresh and direct manner, unimpeded by the need to get people to go “on the record,” and the practice of securing third party confirmations.
That’s not always such a great thing, but thanks to local blogs, I now feel more in touch with the Buffalo political scene than at any time in my life. Blog reports may not always be double checked, but because they’re often loaded with opinion and personality, they make people and events that may have caused my eyes to glaze over when reading about them in the newspaper seem entertaining, somehow more real, and perhaps more relevant. And it makes it more likely that I’ll turn to the newspaper to get the full story.
A good example is the ever-confusing, even byzantine world of Albany politics. Thanks in large part to people like Alan Bedenko of BuffaloPundit.com, figures like Stephen Pigeon, Pedro Espada, and other NYS players come to life, and I’m interested in finding out more about a broken political system can be reformed.
It’s frustrating to see how politics so often trumps progress in Buffalo and the country overall, but our growing world of interactive media at least provides the opportunity to vent, to discuss, and—maybe someday—to make something better happen.
