Help! I’m an elite blogger in a dark room

[T]he next time I see attacks on journalists from pseudonymous bloggers who complain that the journos are only trying to get TRPs (i.e. reach a mass audience), I will wonder: just who do you guys represent? Are you speaking on behalf of viewers and readers? Or are you just another anonymous elite that feels emboldened to pass judgement on the rest of the world from the darkness of your rooms?

[Source: Medium Term]. This diatribe against blogger and Twitter by Indian media personality Vir Sanghvi has been making the rounds of well, blogs and Twitter. The premise of the column or rather, blog post is so weak that bloggers whom Sanghvi holds in low esteem have instantly and effectively fisked it. Sometimes, I think India journalists are waking up to the benefits of link bait and have taken a leaf from the Politico playbook (in tempting Drudge). The beauty of blogging as Sanghvi may or may not understand, is that if other ‘elite’ bloggers like Amit Varma, Rohit, and Lekhni have already refuted not just the underlying arguments in the column blog post but also every major line that supports those arguments, then all I have to do is to link to them. Nevertheless, I’ll rant on. By the way, you are right, my blogging room is indeed dark and I’m waiting for my Google Adsense check to buy new CFLs. Pseudonymous as I am, most of my readers are well aware of my identity, or rather they like to think so.

As Lekhni points out, if TRPs are in fact the ultimate objective of journalism and mainstream media, I’m awaiting extensive coverage of ND Tiwari’s sex-capades [YouTube link]. In fact, a Bigg Boss season with Vir Sanghvi, Rajdeep Sardesai, Barkha Dutt, Arnab Goswami, etc. would be a sure shot winner at the idiot box office. Mr. Sanghvi, get on it please and mention my pseudonym in the opening (not rolling) credits for the idea. Heck, we’ll even start a fire and film the crowds outside and the rescue helicopters. I’m told they make for great TRPs even though it may be ethically wrong and detrimental to the people trapped inside. And for the love of FSM, why is ‘elite’ such a favorite insult? I have been called elite by elite TED-attending bloggers and I always thank them for bestowing a honor that no Indibloggie ever did. Remind me to send the Team of Ordinary Navy Seals when you get kidnapped by the Taliban. If you mean arrogant and out of touch, please say so and hit yourself on the head once for making an ironical (or would it be tragic?) statement.

Now as a attention-seeking lazy blogger, I hope this blog spot gets noticed by your non-elite self and linked by your peers. We all can enjoy higher TRPs then or as we call them on the interwebs, hits. Light up my Mint (and Google Analytics) because we bloggers are like this only too.

Tweet This “Help! I’m an elite blogger in a dark room” [Short URL: http://www.ipatrix.com/?p=3225] was published Friday, January 22nd, 2010 at 3:55 pm by Patrix, filed under 9rules, DesiPundit, Media, Weblogs, and tagged as , , , , . Both comments and linkbacks are closed.

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13 responses to “Help! I’m an elite blogger in a dark room”

  1. neo said:

    I wrote my last blog post from Bangalore’s railway station. You know, just to be in touch with reality.

    Here’s what I learned – “People will elbow you from your bench even if you are an elitist blogger.”

    7 months ago replyReply to this comment
  2. Patrix said:

    @neo: When we are out in the world, people don’t even make way for elite bloggers. Such travesty of celebrity status, I tell you. If I’m going to influence media opinion for the bourgeoisie then they better learn to respect me.

    7 months ago replyReply to this comment
  3. Gautam said:

    Damn.. I wish I was a elite blogger to make Mr. Sanghvi (food and hotel critic and political commentator!) quiver in fear!

    7 months ago replyReply to this comment
  4. Linkback: Where the mind is without fear… » Sorry Mr. Sanghvi, I am not a journalist…
  5. Patrix said:

    @Gautam: Please tell me you are joking about not being an elite blogger. You are one of those rare ones who can actually put up lists that puts you in the top 10/25/50 for your niche globally :) Now I know, Sanghvi was talking about the Ghosh Who Walks *gasp* he was right. Do you also have a dark room?

    7 months ago replyReply to this comment
  6. mumbai paused said:

    Vir Sanghvied: That’s what happens when you start using the internet in 2009/10. If he’s the same corpse who hosts lifestyle and food tasting shows on TV, I’m sure some one else is writing in his name.. his juniors? Or that’s how it feels from my dark room.

    7 months ago replyReply to this comment
  7. Rishi said:

    I quite frankly don’t think there’s anything wrong in what he has written. He does start off by saying that traditional media too is sort of elitist, doesn’t he? Surely we can’t for a minute believe that Indian blogs are a fair representation of what the entire cross-section of Indians feel, can we? That makes us elitist, no?

    Also, nowhere in his blog does he exclude himself from this definition. Sure, he’s elitist too. After all, he is an Indian blogger, having access to a medium that 96%+ of his fellow countrymen don’t.

    We frown on India TV and all – they are too low brow for us perhaps. But they do have a viewership, don’t they?

    My only problem with TV journos is that they take themselves too seriously. And with that single blog post, VS seems to have somehow managed to show that bloggers do to.

    7 months ago replyReply to this comment
  8. Patrix said:

    @Rishi: This blog takes blogging anything but seriously. And yes, Sanghvi is free to criticize anyone and anything including the things that he does himself voluntarily, including blogging (I hope). Like I said, I never shy away from or deny my elite status but compared to Sanghvi, I’m merely a lowly mortal trapped in a dark room blogging my way out of obscurity.

    And as for viewership for India TV, I’m told the Debonair blog has twice that readership so they must be doing something right.

    7 months ago replyReply to this comment
  9. Rishi said:

    @Patrix: About Debonair – Porn is popular. People like porn. Can anyone contest that? If not, then yes. Debonair is definitely doing something right.

    7 months ago replyReply to this comment
  10. Patrix said:

    @Rishi: That’s what I mean when you use viewership or popularity as the sole criterion for quality. It also reminds me of a renowned intellectual who once said after being told of the crowds that had gathered to hear him speak, “if they had announced, they were going to hang me, I bet the crowds would be twice that”.

    7 months ago replyReply to this comment
  11. Rishi said:

    Quality is subjective. A news-item on Amitabh Bachchan’s previous incarnations (believe me, that’s actually been done on India TV) might seem absurd to you, but might be enjoyed by others. Look at the popularity of traditional media. Surely, the entire country minus of a handful of bloggers cannot be all stupid. So, in that sense, it does seem to be fulfilling some social purpose, no?

    7 months ago replyReply to this comment
  12. Patrix said:

    @Rishi: True. And whatever rocks their boat. I rarely dish people for what they like so I would at least expect knowledgeable people like Sanghvi to not do the same. People wield influence in their own way so can’t be criticized for their methods. Anyway, this comment tread has gotten way too serious than the post itself.

    7 months ago replyReply to this comment
  13. Rishi said:

    @Patrix: Hmm…you’re right. I’ve never actually written anything this serious ever online :) Just that the steady stream of bloggers pouring in to defend the pride of India Bloggers-cum-Social Crusaders, as it were. VS is not dissing anyone for their choices. If at all, he’s criticizing us bloggers for thinking that we actually represent the choices/likes of a larger group than the ones who actually favor traditional media. . Enough said. I think VS should be paying me for this. Nice discussing with ya! :D

    7 months ago replyReply to this comment

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