As mentioned previously, NLGJA is clueless about the Web. As a journalistic followup, I checked the coverage of its own conference.

1. The article on Weblogs was of minor interest and indicated that John Aravosis’s charm and panache in person are consistent with what he presents in E-mail. (Perhaps that’s because this “blog” session was as bad as the other ones he attends? A later panel “was the first that I felt was well done and actually interesting and worthwhile.”)

2. Coverage of writing online and for print contained these self-incriminating statements:

   Out.com had problems using the Internet effectively for market research, [Bruce] Shenitz confessed: “Our site had a few too many whistles and bells, and there wasn’t a non-Flash version available. That was a mistake.”

   And your concern there was market research? Today, Shenitz’s site has 810 validation errors.

   He also warns against using the fad of the minute for news media. As an example, podcasting, the process of recording audio and allowing download to MP3 players. “When someone says, ‘Ooh, podcasting, we gotta do it,’ I ask, what are we going to do?”

   I dunno… live in the 21st century?