NBC did a good thing. They invited the architects of their own obsolescence into Conan O’Brien’s studio and told us that they want to work together with us. They respect the  blogger’s ethos of  hyper-local, personal journalism. They like the speed with which we report things. They like our voices and our quirky perspectives.

And they want a piece of our action.

So what’s in it for us? If it
means positive exposure and lots of credit it’s a good thing. Money
would be good, too.

I think NBC may have an enlightened attitude toward blogging. Compared with other news outlets, that is.  In the last year or two, reporters from the New York Times or the Daily News would get in touch with me, ask for my sources, and and be done with me. I FELT TOTALLY USED. And I didn’t play.

This
was different. The NBC people who organized this event GET the value of
blogging, they respect it, they plan to make it a part of what they’re
doing and they need us — we’re on the ground getting the stories that people want to read.

SO WHY ARE THEY DOING THIS? Because they smell their own obsolescence and they want to change that outcome.

And maybe they’re being smart. NBC’s big credibility ticket is  Sree Sreenivasan, the dean and professor at the School of Journalism at Columbia University and the new tech reporter at NBC news.

He’s a smart, tech journalist and I liked his enthusiasm and his insider knowledge. I think it was cool that he brought one of the owner/developers of Movable Type (maker of blogging software) to the summit.

What’s in it for the bloggers? Exposure, money, getting plucked out of obsolescence.

Also, if the mainstream media starts paying attention to the stories we think are important — that’s probably a win win for everyone. We could change the face of local news, which might move beyond sex and wrecks, fires and murders.

Look what happened with Atlantic Yards? That was a story that nobody wanted until blogger, Norman Oder took it on big time. And the rest is history. Now look at what Gowanus Lounge is doing with Coney Island, Gowanus, and the Williamsburg development  stories. These are the big mainstream stories of tomorrow.

Like the "new media" movement of the 1960’s which changed the face of journalism in its own way, bloggers have the power to make a real difference.

I think a lot of bloggers are thinking today — what was last night all about? The food was nice. The hospitality was super nice. Was it hype. Was it real? Was it just the same old same old? It remains to be seen. Send NBC a story, see what happens.

That’s all we can do at this point.

I