There’s been some talk lately, about gun-bloggers and the quality of their information. Obviously, the mainstream media outlets are no place to get quality firearms information, so like gun people do, we talk to each other. Blogging is really just a large scale version of what we all do at the range. However, when you’re at the range, you can size up the information source and decide whether it’s worth your time to listen. Bloggers get to enjoy the anonymity that the Internet provides and they can say almost anything they want, in the hopes of drawing in suckers readers.
I present to you Part 1: Basic guidelines for judging the quality of a gun blogger.
(In Part 2 we will discuss the less basic points.)
• Do they serve up readable content?
Bloggers are not novelists, nor do they always have editors. In the rush to get their content out quickly and often, a misplaced word or comma might sometimes slip through the cracks. However, if a blogger’s content is sloppy and clearly lacking any depth of thought, then it’s likely they don’t respect their reader enough to give them worthwhile information. We’re not writing about origami here. I doubt anyone has ever lost their life in a paper folding accident. Guns can be dangerous when not handled properly. I believe they deserve as much respect when handled as they do when being blogged.
• Does this blogger have a clear point of view?
No on can be an expert on everything so the best thing a blogger can do is define their territory and stick to it. For the experts, this is usually based on their experience and training. However, there are plenty of quality blogs out there, written by non-experts too. The idea is, that they stick to what they know and write from a perspective that is true to their experiences. A girl gun blogger like myself, shouldn’t suddenly start reviewing highly specialized tactical equipment, just as a male gun blogger has no business telling me about carry purses.
• Does this blog get their facts right?
Most of what flies around the Internet is opinion, but when it comes to firearms, certain information is either fact or it’s crap. Safety rules are a perfect example of this. If you see a blog with an image of a person holding a gun in an unsafe manner, unless the post is about why that image is portraying unsafe practices, I implore you to leave the site and never return. Other facts may be less obvious. If a blogger were to mention an antique rifle and tell me it was a certain caliber, though that gun was never manufactured in such a caliber, I probably wouldn’t notice the error immediately. However, comments are wonderful tools for readers in the know, to call-out a blogger errors so that misinformation does not spread. If a blogger wants a solid reputation, they will do their homework, or at least, a quick web search.
Why is everyone so concerned with what someone else is doing and not so concerned with the stuff they themselves are publishing?
If someone writes crappy reviews, people reading will know this. Nobody needs to tell them that.
Well, not everybody realizes they are reading a crappy review, they might be reading one and think it’s legit and they are getting a boatload of crap!!
It’s the same as reading reviews from anyone else. Take it all with a grain of salt and do your own research.
You can get crap from blogs, from the mainstream, from seemingly trusted sources (Yelp, Amazon Reviews, etc) and even people who make a living reviewing things (go figure!)
More gun content, less griping about other sites pls!
Thank you! And that is exactly what we will discuss tomorrow in part 2… How readers can spot a blog that may be a waste of their time
Its not often I worry about mishandling Huns, but I understand they are a proud people with a vibrant and glorious history…
Lol… When your editor’s on vaca, autocorrect is a poor blogger’s substitute. mercy
“…a person holding a gun in an unsafe manor…” [sic]
This made me laugh, considering the first one of your three points. It’d be really awesome if you did it just to see if someone called you on it, but I don’t think you did. Simple mistake, made me chuckle.
Anyway, on the point of that third point, sometimes the safety nazis go a little overboard, and I think it’s often nothing more than an effort to be the first to say “gotcha.” Case in point, this article about Tori Nonaka, where in every place I’ve seen it linked, the conversation has been completely derailed by people arguing about whether or not her finger is on the trigger and/or if she’s “promoting unsafe gun handling.” At some point (and not just because she’s a pretty girl), people really need to give it a rest.
When I write professionally for my income producing job, I write a lot differently then I do for my blog. For my blog I like to express my opinions in a train of thought kind of way like I would talk to someone in front of me. I do research facts but it does not satisfy everyone as many people these days confuse their beliefs with facts. No matter what sources I use there will always be some commenters that will reject the post because it does not fit into their belief system. Even researched facts can be wrong. I lost count of how many guns on manufacturer’s websites show a wrong dimension here or there.
I do not consider a blogger a journalist. I consider them people with a point of view expressing their opinions as they see it. I do not act on any source of information, especially if it has not gone through an editor. When I wrote a book and magazine articles, an editor fact checked them. When I blog, if I get it wrong or use the wrong sources, no one checks anything I write. I can say the end of the world is coming in my blog. So no, I do not consider a blogger a journalist although some may be frustrated journalist who have found an outlet for their writing. 🙂 I am a blogger, not a journalist. I am a journalist when I write for someone else that will edit and publish my work. A blogger is on par with a vanity press in my opinion.
This comment is almost a note perfect example of why the print media, with a few exceptions, is losing market share to the web.
I vote fact AND crap.
This is all just teh interweb equivalent of gun counter commandos. We like our guns, we like to talk about our guns. The vast majority of us have never (thank God) had to fire a shot in anger but we don’t let that stop us from talking about our guns.
We figure out who we want to listen to and who we want to ignore. Research and facts are good and fun but in the end for most of us. this is just a hobby/entertainment. The people who insist it’s not a hobby/entertainment the hardest, they’re the people I tend to ignore.
” . . . if they want to be considered jourrnalists . . .”
” . . . I do not consider bloggers journalists . . .”
Given what the facts show, if one wants to be considered a “journalist”, one would have to make a habit of writing about things, stories, and concepts one knows little or nothing about.
And, if one wishes to be considered a “journalist”, one would have to make a habit of producing biased editorials in place of factual news reports, and would have to embellish sources and stories by deliberate and repetitive lying to readers and viewers.
“Journalists”, by the way, is not what protection of the press is all about. Reporting is. Freedom of the press is not limited to those with government-issued-and-approved labels, licenses to run businesses, and the like.
Those who would have us believe otherwise frequently use the “can not yell fire” metaphor. Please . . . find me the words I the Constitution that say “This Right is guaranteed, and these government powers are strictly limited, EXCEPT . . .”.
The sad truth is that most traditional media and journalists are really just blogging in a rush to get information out there first… no fact checking, no editing, no integrity… the Boston bombing coverage illustrated that again…
My blog is just for my enjoyment and networking with others… I stick to what I know… and as I have often said, I don’t do a review of anything until I’ve spent considerable time with it… and two hours at the range and two-hundred rounds does not give you enough information for an in-depth review of a gun… in my opinion…
… and yes… I use excessive amounts of ellipses… but hey, it’s my blog…
Dann in Ohio (http://godgalsgunsgrub.blogspot.com)