Of Synergy and Bedfellows

In Malaysia, we're still trying to understand blogs, bloggers and the blogosphere. One day, I am sure, we will be able to accept and recognise bloggers as part of the growing new media.
In the United States, bloggers are a force to be reckoned with. They are the new media.
More often than not, they have upstaged the old media.
Now, it is no longer the question of acceptance. It is now about synergy, co-existence and making the best of being in bed together.

I extract a few paragraphs from a Los Angeles Times article about the battle between book reviewers and literary bloggers:

"The accusations flew back and forth. But now there is a growing sense that enough is enough — and that the friction between old and new book media obscures the fact that the two are in bed together now, for better or worse. Often the same people who churn out literary blogs are reviewing books for mainstream reviews. (Champion, for example, has a review appearing in this week's Los Angeles Times Book Review.)

Many believe there's a healthy synergy between the two. Maud Newton, who runs one of the more respected literary blogs (maudnewton.com), was puzzled by the idea that the two are somehow competing. "When bloggers disagree with or agree with an article about books in the mainstream press, it drives traffic to the newspaper," she said. The cutbacks at newspaper book reviews are unfortunate, but hardly the fault of bloggers.

"This was truly a false dichotomy," Mark Savas, who runs the L.A.-based blog the Elegant Variation, said by phone. "The two sides needn't be in opposition, certainly not at this time. There is a vast ecosystem of information about books out there, and all of it needs our support."

Read the full article here.