Jeff Duncan (pictured looking incredibly stoned), reporter for the Times-Picayune, had an interesting tweet the other day that reads as follows: “Next time some idiot blogger rails on newspapers, show them this story, uncovered exclusively by the T-P & @BMcCarthyTPhttp://bit.ly/goJOtb“.
As a blogger, the term “idiot blogger” immediately got under my skin and I took offense. While I don’t rail on newspapers so by association I didn’t feel the the comment was immediately directed at me, I do feel like it was a belittling comment about my hobby that was completely out of left field and unnecessary. I know a lot of my fellow Saints bloggers felt the same way, and the Jeff Duncan bashing ensued almost immediately. Why did the term “idiot blogger” even need to enter his thought process based on the message he was really trying to deliver?
He was praising a great story by a co-worker, but instead of delivering the message that it was a terrific story that everyone should read, his message came across much more strongly as “as if a blogger would EVER be capable of coming up with something this grandiose”. This is nothing new with him. I’ve always sensed an underlying disdain for blogging, to the point where I feel like he finds no merit whatsoever in the activity. Duncan seems to have this insecure feeling that he’s threatened by bloggers, for whatever reason, and he seems to be on this crusade to squash what he views as an inferior opponent. I can see why, I guess, assuming he’s incredibly insecure. I’m sure he gets asked for opinions about blogs all the time and he even gets attacked by them (case in point). After a while that gets annoying. Why should he have to answer to a random guy with no credentials that writes as a hobby when he’s getting paid to do the same writing that much better?
As Saints bloggers we’ve all been exposed to Duncan’s articles and personality for the duration of his career in New Orleans and it’s often been unpleasant. Unlike his contemporaries, he often comes off as rude, arrogant, pompous, brash and inflammatory. To his credit, he also comes off as insightful, intelligent, verbose, informative and hard working. But again, instead of letting his sometimes brilliant work speak for itself, he feels the need to lash out at blogs instead of ignoring them. If he felt really secure about his profession, snide comments about lower men on the totem pole wouldn’t happen.
I’m a very active amateur club tennis player, and this kind of felt like a guy like James Blake (I’m not going to say Roger Federer because there’s no way I’m comparing Duncan to someone that great in this analogy) winning an ATP pro level tour tennis match and then saying right after the match “I guess I’m better at tennis than Andrew Juge.” Great, tell me something I don’t know. Here’s my basic take: everyone on earth knows that bloggers blog for free. Everyone knows that bloggers do what they do as a hobby. You can either respect their opinion and enjoy what they do, or you can ignore them as amateur writers. Duncan has chosen neither, instead waging in war. No one is forcing you to read what we write, and never have we suggested being superior to newspapers (at least I haven’t). Still, Jeff Duncan basically reported that newpapers are better than blogs. Great, thanks Jeff for the incredibly informative news. You call that reporting? Filling us in on something everyone already knows.
The only thing I can conclude from Jeff Duncan’s need to make a condescending comment about bloggers completely unprovoked is that he feels threatened and is insecure about the fact that some guy that’s not getting paid and doesn’t have his credentials is potentially stealing his readers (that’s how you construct a run-on sentence kids!). Maybe he should be. Look how NOLA.com has changed in the last 3 years. It’s turned into a blog format. Jeff Duncan tweets like a madman, despite being a newspaper column writer, because that’s what bloggers did long before him to get fans. Bloggers were way ahead of the curve on social networking. Quite simply, newspapers are a dying art. Why? Technology. Don’t blame the bloggers for that, Jeff, blame yourself and your industry for being behind. If you want stay the king of the party, you have to get with the times. Of all reporters, no one has been more aggressive at staying relevant with technology than Jeff Duncan between his blogging, tweeting and vlogs. All things that bloggers essentially invented as a way to get exposure. It’s funny to me that Duncan has had to embrace the format of said idiots, yet he refuses to acknowledge their contributions.
I know he’ll read this, so we’ll see if he takes the higher road and ignores it or if he feels the need to respond to an “idiot blogger”.
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
