6. Have you noticed any difference in attitudes toward bloggers by readers and by mainstream media? What sort of differences? Good or bad?

People assume that “bloggers” are one thing, armchair journalists who are trying to take down the traditional press. That is not true. Some of us are armchair pundits, economists, sociologists, scientists or just plain writers who think that people should spend time paying attention to what we have to say. I think that while it has improved, the media still takes a defensive stance when it comes to bloggers and that is dangerous in a landscape where individuals with a little gumption and a whole lot of raw talent are so readily available and willing to do their part to improve the mass media we all consume.

The best thing I’ve seen is that at least mainstream media is taking a crack at the blogging thing these days. They might only be shaky, baby steps right now fraught with the sort of accidents one would expect from an industry that is not used to the wild-west mentality that many bloggers hold but they are steps nonetheless and I honestly believe that if they keep at it they will reap the benefits of timeliness and dynamism that blogging allows.