Scott:

Thanks for these interesting comments.

I also do a fair amount of writing / producing in the legal world (primarily re corporate governance and securities), and the same forces are at play. There are dozens of "outlets" (magazines, blogs, newsletters, etc.) and they are all desperate for content. So many of them will publish almost anything they can get, and the less work they have to do to publish a piece, the better. I would say that of 10 or 12 outlets that my group uses to publish articles re corporate governance, only one or two do any active editing or checking. The rest just specify a deadline and a word-count, and just about anything you submit will be printed.

Some with the watches . . . anyone can create an outlet / blog / community site, but guess what? Creating the outlet is far easier than creating the content. So the outlets are desperate for content; there are plenty of people who write for them; the fact-checking and editorial input / challenges are a thing of the past. It seems like everyone wants to cover high-end mechanical watches -- blogs from the worlds of fashion, gadgets, technology, money, menswear, jewelry, etc. So if you can write anything, it will be published.

I served as a source / authority for a short piece in Road & Track, re the Siffert Autavias, and this old-time magazine had very rigorous checking and validation. But that has been the exception, rather than the rule.

Jeff

+++++++++++++++++++++++++

: The rant repeats many of the themes I've heard before, and has a
: certain amount of validity. I have a blog (law, not watches)
: that is fairly well known, and so I've been embroiled in this
: debate for a while. Not all blogs are credible or well done, but
: then, very few develop much readership.

: Strandberg emphasizes the institutional virtues of journalism:

: "The challenge with bloggers, in the watch industry and
: elsewhere, is that – unlike journalists, who have editors,
: publishers, proofreaders and fact checkers (the so-called
: “gatekeepers”) supporting them and overseeing what is
: published – bloggers are on their own, writing what they want
: about whatever they want."

: Missing from his gatekeeper list is knowledge, experience or
: competence. They are journalists. They can write today about
: watches, tomorrow about wars, and possess no greater knowledge
: about either than anyone on the street.

: Good blogs gain readers because people find the merit of their
: content sufficiently worthwhile to overcome their lack of
: institutional virtues. I think that this site, you Jeff, Mark
: and others, enjoy that same credibility that more than overcomes
: any gatekeeper involvement.

: Scott