Sun on Blogs
Bill Howard on Sun Blogs. Bill’s office was next to mine at Sun – great guy.
To David’s point…
I do think all bloggers have a responsibility – to themselves more than anything – to drive towards accuracy of facts. And that PR people need to be very engaged in informing bloggers as to where facts are wrong. David gets at this in a recent post:
It’s a matter of personal style and their comfort level with the chosen approach and all that goes with it (eg: impact on audience perception). When Robert Scoble decided that the time may have come to do more fact checking, he didn’t go from being a blogger to a journalist. He went from being a writer that took more chances to a writer that took fewer. You’d be hard pressed to find a self-proclaimed journalist that hasn’t also moved in one direction or another for whatever reasons.
Opinion based on lies, incorrect facts and drivel in effect becomes so itself. We shouldn’t rely on the self-correcting features of the blogosphere as a proxy for not taking time to check facts – or at least indicate where they aren’t. I’ve deleted several blogs from my reader because of their ongoing propensity to express opinions as fact, or support them with nonsense.
Ultimately, while the choice rests with readers, hopefully the majority will support blogs that do take time to write as accurately as they can, leaving the rest jabbering, irrelevantly, away to themselves. David ends with some sage advice:
Thanks to the blogosphere, on relatively short order, I went from writing twice a week to 10-15 times a week and sometimes more. There are plenty more where I came from that are feeling and responding in-kind to that same pressure. But, as the established media community picks up the pace, there are those of us in it who would prefer to keep constant the number of chances we’re taking. But if the PR community doesn’t also reinvent itself to keep pace with the media revolution by responding to the fact checkers on blogopshere time, it will leave those writers with no choice but to take more chances. I don’t know about you, but if I were a PR professional, I sure wouldn’t want to be the guy that blew that one opportunity to contain the story that snow-balled into a disaster for the company I represent.
You only get one shot, do not miss your chance to blow, this opportunity comes once in a lifetime – Eminem
New Blog Survey Out…
comScore has just released a new market research report (co-sponsored by SixApart and Gawker) on Blogging Behavior. Lots of great great stats and validation of blogging industry. Some of the highlights include:
- Nearly 50 million Americans, or about 30 percent of the total U.S. Internet population, visited blogs in Q1 2005
- Five hosting services for blogs each had more than 5 million unique visitors in Q1 2005, and four individual blogs had more than 1 million visitors each
- Of 400 of the largest blogs observed, segmented by eight (non-exclusive) categories, political blogs were the most popular, followed by "hipster" lifestyle blogs, tech blogs and blogs authored by women
- Compared to the average Internet user, blog readers are significantly more likely to live in wealthier households, be younger and connect to the Web on high-speed connections
- Compared to the average Web user, blog readers visit nearly twice as many Web pages, and are more likely to shop online.
Stunning…
Making my way back to the US this evening I was lucky enough to fly on Air New Zealand’s revamped 747s. It is simply stunning what they have achieved in business class. British Airways similar product upgrade pales in the face of this brilliant combination of design and branding.
The upper deck – once reserved for business class only is now a combo of business class and premium economy – with more business class downstairs. Premium economy looks great – lots of leg room with three-up on one side and two on the other. Business class seats face into the plane on an angle. They are so stunning I’m stumped as to why they even call it business class. It warrants another label. Superb Class maybe. They should have taken a feather out of Virgin’s cap – when redefining air travel, change what you call it.
Many things distinguish this from traditional business class, one of which is a second small seat in front of the main which doubles as a foot rest and guest seat should they want to join you for dinner. Word is that they had Recaro – the makers of premium auto seats – make the brown leather seats. They are amazingly comfortable. Each seat is cocooned with a polished white laminate wall which gives off a brilliant glow when the overhead light is on. This not only provides real privacy but really cuts down the noise. And when its time for bed, they lay flat, really flat. Better still, the flight attendants make your bed, laying a mattress cover over the seat along with duvet.
A generous flat panel entertainment system sits snugly into the wall. Wasn’t thrilled to see a Windows CE boot screen for ten minutes or so – or with the warning from the pilot that we shouldn’t push the buttons too much or else a crash might result warranting another ten minute reboot. But hey, no worries, they had people on board to help. Can’t imagine that will last too long and thankfully this is all Windows CE runs on the plane. Hopefully they’ll get the bugs worked out over time. Saying that, the system worked fine for me and provided a modest selection of movies.
About all the plane was missing on the technology front was WiFi – reading Ross’ recent entry that would have been incredible – but hey, there is only so much you can do mid Pacific anyway.
Air New Zealand has always provided superb food and wine. Arguably the best in the air. Now it’s even better. They continue to deliver uniquely New Zealand flavors that marks them as one of the few airlines that it’s worth waiting for the meal.
It’s rare for me to rave about any travel experience but this is just superb. Every hotel proprietor in NZ should take flight with Air New Zealand and then head home with ideas on how to implement what they have done in the air. I just spent a few days at the Stamford Plaza, Auckland and once inside the hotel could have been in any US chain. Once on Air New Zealand there is no question where you are – in the best business class in the air.
Still In Taupo…
Hi Gang, more posts coming tomorrow. Still in NZ…
