Posted 1:03 PM by Gene

Dow 36,000's site links to this blog entry which has evidently stirred some discussion:

I'm all for blogs and blogging. (I'm writing this, ain't I?) But I'm not blind to the limitations and the flaws of the blogosphere - its superficiality, its emphasis on opinion over reporting, its echolalia, its tendency to reinforce rather than challenge ideological extremism and segregation. Now, all the same criticisms can (and should) be hurled at segments of the mainstream media. And yet, at its best, the mainstream media is able to do things that are different from - and, yes, more important than - what bloggers can do. Those despised "people in a back room" can fund in-depth reporting and research. They can underwrite projects that can take months or years to reach fruition - or that may fail altogether. They can hire and pay talented people who would not be able to survive as sole proprietors on the Internet. They can employ editors and proofreaders and other unsung protectors of quality work. They can place, with equal weight, opposing ideologies on the same page. Forced to choose between reading blogs and subscribing to, say, the New York Times, the Financial Times, the Atlantic, and the Economist, I will choose the latter. I will take the professionals over the amateurs.

You also mean professionalism like this?

Martin Scorsese's classic mobster movie "Goodfellas" is the greatest film of all time, according to the experts at a British film magazine.

The 1990 film, based on the exploits of real life gangster Henry Hill, which starred Ray Liotta, Robert de Niro and Joe Pesci who won an Academy Award for his performance was No. 1 in a "Total Film" magazine poll published Monday.

"Goodfellas has it all story, dialogue, performances, technique," the magazine said.

Or maybe professionalism like THIS:

Madonna's new single, "Hung Up," will be featured next month on crossover episodes of CBS' "CSI: Miami" and "CSI: NY."

The song will be heard during the beginning of "CSI: Miami" on Nov. 7 and two days later on "CSI: NY," the network said Monday.

"Hung Up" is from her new album, "Confessions on a Dance Floor," set for release Nov. 15.

Or maybe professionalism like Jayson's, or professionalism like our NEUHARTHISM OF THE WEEK award winners', or professionalism like the late Paul Krugman's, or maybe professionalism like the rampant GUSH that will spew when MR. 2-0-0-0 comes along.

But I don't want to be forced to make that choice.

Neither do I, but forced to choose between amateurs and THESE professionals, I take the AMATEURS.

TUBVZBU!