n While the comments Adan Berkowitz made against the blogsphere ("Time to end the realm of the blogosphere," Mar. 21, p. 7) may have been valid some four years ago, but at this point in time, they are simply insipid and uniformed.
Blogs fill a crucial void in mainstream media by providing niche content that normally wouldn't be given the time of day. The blogosphere has proven it is capable of not only maintaining journalistic integrity (see , Engadget, Gothamist or Romenesko), but also breaking major news stories (The Drudge Report and Rathergate) and even critiquing the mainstream media from the inside out (CBS Public Eye).
To say "they're just somebody's opinion" is ignoring the structure and form bloggers have created to ensure quality blogs don't become the pedestals for crazy street-corner rants that you described. Sure, the Internet may be infested with millions of what you call "barely cogent to borderline-dyslexic diary blogs," but to dismiss them simply because they serve no immediate intellectual or entertainment purpose is to dismiss the idea of open communication and the basic principles of the Internet.
Heck, Berkowitz might as well throw away the whole concept of democracy while you're at it. Has it ever crossed your mind that these "losers spewing self-indulgent tripe" don't want you to read their blog? While it may seem like many of these "losers" are looking for attention, most of them maintain blogs simply to keep friends and family in the loop.
I despise rambling teenage rants just as much as the next guy, but the Internet is a public space, possibly the greatest (and only) democratic forum in the history of man, and with that freedom comes great responsibility - the responsibility to ignore what stupid people have to say.
Eric Schutzbank
NYU '08
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