Why I Trust Bloggers Over MSM

I got into a discussion with a colleague of mine about media and reporting. I made an off handed comment about how I trust bloggers more than the mainstream media TV News Networks like CNN, FoxNews, CNBC, etc. When he pushed me to back up my statement, I came up with several conclusions. Plenty has been written talking about why new media is disrupting the old newspaper and TV network models, so I won’t rehash that. What I just want to touch on is why I fundamentally trust blogs more than the mainstream media.

1) Blogging is much more of a meritocracy. There are over a hundred millions blogs in existence (indexed since 2002). New blogs crop up everyday. In contrast, the major news networks all remain the same. The hosts are nearly the same (sometimes they rotate between networks). With blogging, new blogs shoot up out of nowhere and gain large followings in a relatively short period of time. A recent example of this is the financial blog ZeroHedge, which started a few months back as a hosted blogspot domain and has now grown into one of the edgiest financial blogs in the world. The mainstream media loves to point to the fact that anyone can start a blog as a way to question the credibility of bloggers. The problem with this argument is that they fail to realize no one continues to read bad bloggers. If you are not providing great content and value, people won’t read what you have. It’s as simple as that

2) The feedback is real, unfiltered, and instantaneous. The people on TV News Networks have no real resistance to what they are saying. Sure, they bring on people to “debate” them, but there is very little discord on the air. All the voices sound the same. Blogs have a simple thing called comments. Although some sites limit the comments on their posts, most sites allow uncensored and raw comments. This means that bloggers with large followings can’t get away with just saying unfounded opinions. Anyone who spews out garbage will get RIPPED APART in comments. It’s as simple as that. I would love to see these TV News Hosts attempt to handle the feedback that bloggers get on a daily basis. They couldn’t handle it. They are not used to anyone seriously challenging what they say.

3) Bloggers have nothing to lose. Whereas the major TV networks are owned by the same handful of big companies, the blogosphere constantly gives rise to new voices who are unafraid to push the envelope. It is precisely because anyone can start a blog that bloggers are FEARLESS of what they say. Blogs really are too small to fail and that makes them an incredible source of groundbreaking ideas/news. Sure, blogs can often overstep the lines of reality, but I think we’ve seen in the past year that so can mainstream media. I love reading a blog that consistently pushes the envelope because they are unafraid of disrupting the status quo. This is how truth and ideas are born.

With that, I would like to leave you with one of my ultimate favorite clips of one of my favorite personalities: Jon Stewart. He is brilliant, sharp, witty, and always pushing the boundaries. Ironically enough, this comedian, as of today’s Time Poll is the MOST TRUSTED NEWSCASTER IN AMERICA. Let that sink in for a moment.

This is a clip of him coming onto CNN’s Crossfire and absolutely ripping them apart for their failure to truly do their responsability of delivering real discourse. His apperance on the show led to the cancellation of the show (after having run for 12 years) and the termination of Tucker Carlson’s contract with CNN.

The Future for Investors

A lot of people in the hedge fund and real estate industries feel that the future is bleak for investors, speculators and bettors. If you talk to them, you’ll hear about how the “golden” years of making money are gone and how the government will continue to bring on regulations.

For an entrepreneur, it’s important to make an attempt at drowning out the noise and really focusing in on opportunity. I see massive opportunities in hedge funds and real estate investing in the coming years.

First off, the space is a lot less crowded. For example, in a June 16 Bloomberg article, Hedge Fund Research reports that of 9,500 funds in existence around this time last year, 1,200 have closed. So for every investment, there are now less people looking at it. That inherently creates opportunity.

Secondly, and perhaps more importantly, we must look at the players remaining. The average hedge fund lost 19% in 2008, which is the worst year on record since the dataset began tracking in 1990. So of the remaining players, they are now increasingly risk averse. The name of the game is to survive. That’s healthy and appropriate. But it also means that such a recent memory of a near fatal experience can impede the investing decisions of people who made it through the blood shed of 2008.

Thirdly, we must look at history. Investors and market speculators have existed in some form or another since the ancient days of Aristotle in Greece. There have always been bubbles and crashes. Booms and busts. Today is no different. There will be more bubbles in our lifetime. And there will be more crashes as well. Many things come into existence through booms and trends. It is part of our human nature.

And so, I have no doubt in my mind that the future looks very bright for investors. New markets will come. The players will change, but the golden rule will always be the same: buy low, sell high.