Abel to Yzerman
Linked? Don’t Count On It
by IwoCPO on 09/06/08 at 10:52 AM ET
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We’ve reached day 19 of my private quest to keep my own personal, political views away from A2Y. I’ve been successful, but only barely. It’s my intent to maintain this neutral posture. Why? Because nothing, and I mean nothing, is more divisive than that topic.
Having said that, I do feel compelled to point something out to those of you who may be riding the fence…
You actually fell for that?
I’m telling you. Not a chance. None. You guys want to discuss it? Have at it. Me? Not. Gonna. Do. It.
Let’s take a spin.
Everyone’s hero, Bruce MacLeod, hasn’t posted or written a thing since 21 August. A deserved vacation? I’m sure. MacLeod, as you’re all aware, is the odd exception among our beat writers and Diggers (there is a difference) in that he’s got his own blogspot/blogger site in addition to his articles that appear in the cheap-ass Macomb Daily News.
Sometimes when I’m feeling lonely and bored I like to go to the Anti-Digger’s blog and see who he’s added to his blog roll, a constantly evolving list of great hockey sites and other bloggers? Not quite. I occasionally wonder why MacLeod—despite being hailed and fawned over at every Wing site/blog on the Gore (woops, was that political?)—chooses not to compile a listing of blogs he, himself, visits. Kinda like Mirtle does.
For instance, in the event that—perhaps—MacLeod has once or twice visited George Malik’s site and found a story he hadn’t been made aware of yet? I wonder if he’d feel inclined to, you know, give credit where credit is due.
Now, is this a slam on MacLeod? Not really. But it’s interesting to note there are other beat writers who blog, and who have no problem pointing to the unwashed.
Take, for instance, Seth Rorabaugh of the Pittsburgh Post Gazette. Not only does he have a growing list of Pens blogs and fan sites on the left-hand side of his page, but he points and links to bloggers every day.
Michael Russo, the quality beat writer for the Minneapolis Star-Tribune also includes a couple of Wild Bloggers on his roll.
Looking around, though, Russo and Rorabaugh are the exceptions. Don’t even bother looking at any of the Detroit mainstream sites looking for references to Wing blogs. That will never happen. But it’s not just our guys.
Read a fan-run Dallas blog, a Columbus blog, or any number of blogs following the Canadie(a)n teams and you’ll see daily pointers to blogs run by Adam Portzline, Darryl Reaugh, Damien Cox and Eric Duhatschek—all writers who undoubtedly get plenty of traffic at their sites due to pointers from bloggers. Yet, no reciprocation. Edit: At the Calgary Sun, Scott Cruickshank and Jean Lefebvre mention and cite Flame blogs.
It’s curious, and that’s it. Really. Is it even irritating? Not particularly. It’s kind of amusing to watch, this odd relationship between the bloggers and the mainstream. I’m assuming there’s policy in place at most of the papers, prohibiting attribution to blogs, or even linking to them. Maybe George can chime in and give us some insight as to the stance MLive takes on that.
If it’s policy? Got it. But if it isn’t? That’s a whole other matter. I looked at more than a few mainstreamers’ blogs this morning and half-way expected to find the younger guys (George Richards at the Miami Herald, for instance) more prone to a more progressive stance. Nope.
Like I said above, the writers who link to the bloggers are rare. It just doesn’t happen that much and the decision they make not to do so is clearly a deliberate one. The stance they’ve elected to take could very well be costing them readers. Not my concern.
Again, it’s something to watch with amusement…just to see where the elitism lies and where the recognition of new media as a viable resource comes to the fore.
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About Abel to Yzerman
Welcome to Abel to Yzerman, a Red Wing blog since 1977. No other site on the internet has better-researched, fact-laden and better prepared discussions than A2Y. Re-phrase: we do little research, find facts and stats highly overrated and claim little to no preparation. There are 19 readers of A2Y. No more, no less. All of them, except maybe one, are juvenile in nature. Reminding them of that in the comment section will only encourage them to prove that. Your suggestions and critiques are welcome: wphoulihan@gmail.com