A different perspective on Kravitz's column

I'm posting an alternative response to Bob Kravitz's column that's got everyone so riled up.

Look, I'm not trying to play devil's advocate here, so let me preface this post with two things:

 1. I really like this blog site (remember, it's a blog site).

2. I am NOT a Bob Kravitz fan; never have been...dude can't write. His punchlines are trash, he tries to be inflammatory to get a reaction, but never says anything offensive enough to do anything but slightly irritate (he's like the sports columnist equivalent of a mesquito) and he's generally, as his column today proves, an arrogant, narcissistic blow hard.

Kravitz is clearly jealous and feels threatened. But he's right; with anonymity comes courage. I've learned that from years of fruitlessly blogging with Internet idiots who either don't know what they're talking about or rely on ad hominems to overbear their opponent, rather than making salient points. And make no mistake, there are plenty of these people on here, and on 18to88.

But what Bob either deliberately ignores, or fails to realize thanks to a lack of homework derived from his predjudice against blogs, is that, for the most part, the people on this site, and 18to88 are actually well-informed and coherent writers/arguers. In fact, he calls out Deshawn by name, but Deshawn could write circles around Kravitz. People gravitate to these sites not only because they're updated more often (with relevant news) than Indystar, but because a lot of the writing's really, really good. I've already mentioned how I feel bout Deshawn Zombie, but there are also some "correspondants" on this site that are really entertaining, and probably have the skills to be professional columnists, whether Kravitz chooses to accept it or not.

Now, to the other side of things. Throw out Kravitz's ignorance about the relevance of these sites, and throw out his personal attacks on BBS and DZ. The heart of his argument is that because people have an outlet where they can anonymously rip anything they want, journalistic integrity and accountability is thrown out the window. Believe it or not, there are readers out there who can't distinguish blog sites from "real" news sites. Like the Star or hate it, it's the paper of record in this town, and you can't just usurp it and assume your information/opinions are more current, or more interesting, just because  you're a frequent blogger on a popular sports site. For most of us, this is a hobby. Disregarding how good of a JOB you think Kravitz and the Colts beat writers are doing, IT IS THEIR JOB. They have certain standards they have to uphold, and we don't. That 's what makes him so frustrated. To the untrained eye, BECAUSE many of these bloggers are so good, the line between our hobby and the Star's PROFESSIONAL PURPOSE becomes very blurry. But no one's stopping us from throwing up Mike Florio-esque rumors on the blogosphere. Because there's no one to whom we answer, and no accountability rules, we don't have to worry about losing our jobs. Speaking to Kravitz's professionalism, or lack thereof, as mentioned here by Blueisgood, he may not be all that professional all the time. But he's kept a consistent stance on Bill Polian, Marvin Harrison, Ron Artest, and many others. You can ask anyone how popular Kravitz was with Harrison, or how much BP likes him, and you'll come to realize he's upset those people by consistently voicing his negative opinions about them. He may waffle a little, but unlike us, who have the freedom to waffle as much as we want without consequence, he has people who are reading him every day, holding him publicly accountable, not to mention job security he has to worry about.