Syntax of Things: “Did I miss the seminar or not read the pamphlet that listed the qualifications of responsible book reviewing? Damn, I’ll have to Google around for it. Then again, it could be that it’s written in invisible ink on the back of the hand that feeds everyone this crap and calls it a gourmet meal. Highly responsible for what? Here at Syntax of Things, we are highly responsible and possibly, in the eyes of outgoing literary editors for major newspapers, highly contemptible for reading books published by a former quality-control manager for a car-parts manufacturer. AND ENJOYING THEM, TELLING YOU ABOUT THEM, AND BRINGING RUIN TO THE SACRED EMPIRES.”
I see litblogs as analogous to conversations (that happen to be preserved, sort of) than as competition for print journalism, and so I don’t see why literary journalists would feel any more threatened by a litblog than they would be by a group of friends talking about books over a few beers.
(On the other hand, I don’t know why litbloggers feel the need to express indignation about these kinds of things quite as often as they do.)
Newspapers are threatened, not by the Internet, but by stockholders who see print journalism not as a public good in itself but as a machine for a 15% profit margin every quarter.