You know them, you love them, you read them. Brian Mansfield of USA Today’s Idol Chatter and Richard Rushfield of the LA Times will be dropping by mjsbigblog for a chat on Wednesday.
Mark your calendars peeps! And bring your smart, thoughtful questions for these two titans of Idol commentary.
The idea took shape shortly after the American Idol tour began in Portland OR. Both Richard and Brian live blogged the event–afterward there was quite the lively debate in one of the threads here about the role of and relationship between bloggers and their commenters. Very unexpectedly, Richard and Brian stopped by to throw their two cents in.
Y’all were so awesome they’re coming back to chat and take your questions.
And as a side note, let’s congratulate Richard Rushfield on his new job. He’ll be leaving the LA Times to take on the position of West Coast editor of the entertainment blog, Gawker, beginning August 31.
Just so you know–Richard assures me he’ll continue to cover Idol over at his new digs.
Here are the deets:
What: Q&A with Richard Rushfield of the LA Times (soon to be Gawker) and Brian Mansfield of USA Today
When: Wednesday, July 29
What time: 12:30-1:30 EDT
Format: A moderated Q&A session (using coveritlive)
Very cool MJ!!!! Too bad the workday will not permit me to follow along. I hope you post the entire Q&A on the blog or at least the highlights.
Wow! How awesome is this! I’ll try to make it for this if I can. Thanks for the notice MJ!
MJ that is wonderful to hear. I missed their initial posts on the blog/commentor debates could u post a link to that thread?
Cool. Not sure I can take lunch then at work, but would you ask them if anyone has asked Adam if he has perfect pitch? Or is it just the amazing control? I’m sure you’ll replay it on the blog, so I’m looking foward to after work on Wed.
MJ, any explanation why coveritlive crashes my computer? Its the first time I’ve ever experienced this during live chats.
I have participated in a couple of chats with Richard and tweet Brian (I was even interviewed for an article by him! Famous, ha ha .) and they are both great guys and very knowledgeable. The timing is not good for me, but I will try to check in for a few minutes. And kudos to Richard on his job. Hope he can put Gawker firmly on the map for those of us who have never read it.
This is so cool! Thanks for this. I enjoy reading both writers, even when I disagree with them, and I love their respective AI fandom. It’s fun when people come out of a place of love because it doesn’t mean they can’t or won’t criticise, but that they too love this cheesy show and don’t hold themselves above it.
And congrats to Richard. I hope he flourishes at Gawker.
Wow, this is so cool! I’m not on twitter and will be busy that time of day anyway. However, I’ll come back later to read the blog. Tell Richard Rushfield congratulations on his new placement! I’ll be sad to no longer see him covering AI.
Also, thank them for any part they have played in having NB replaced on the tour!
I guess I would like to know how they believe AI has played a role in the overall music industry today.
I used to read only traditional music reviews from mainstream media , but started reading blogs because blogs are faster and convenient for the mobile . Blogs may not sound the death knell of mainstream media but I think it co exists as the online alternative. I see a lot of good stuff and bad stuff in the internet, but I see it in my local newspaper as well.
My question to R. Rushfield and B. Mansfield would be ‘“ do they really think that people’s preference for a type of music or for an artist( in this case American Idol) , can be swayed by what they read in the blogs and the comments these generate?
Would blogs then have the capacity to make or break an entertainer’s career ? Someone constantly talked about would be trending ? Is that a good sign ?
Do they think that blogs are becoming the mecca for the same mind set as blogs tend to favor personal analysis over objective news/factual gathering.
I would have loved to chat with Mansfield, Rushfield and you MJ but unable to do so.
Kind regards to all and I wish Richard Rushfield the best in his new post. I do read their blogs. Very convenient for someone like me who travel 8 months in a year.
This is a really good question. A group of us at my job was discussing this exact same topic about 2 weeks ago. My one co-worker for instance does not read blogs at all. He feels they are too bias (personal analysis), and he prefers more factual news gatherings. He doesn’t see the point of just reading random people’s opinions. However, blogs are really taking over, and a lot of people are using it to gather news whether bias or not.
I like your question a lot.
I agree, it is a good question and I would add to what unique28v said that blogs are now becoming a “refuge,” if you will, for displaced journalists. They are not just random people anymore, but writers/reporters who have lost their jobs because of the freefall of print media. I too am interested to hear how they see the role bloggers will eventually play. Will they be “reporters with opinions”? Or reviewer/commentators? Or a little bit of everything?
Will try to be there. Busy time at work.
How fun! I love Richard and Brian (even if I don’t always agree with either of them!).
Very cool! MJ, you should apply for the L.A. Times job, now that Richard is leaving!!!!!
What is coveritlive? Will I need to download something?
help…i wannna know too
great news, this should be an interesting chat
You won’t need to dowload anything. Or at least not that I’m aware of. It’s the window thingey that MJ has been using lately during the tour shows for the Tweets. It will be right at the top part of the post used for the event. I think it’s cool and it’s really easy.
Thanks MJ. This is a great idea! Now, I have to arrange my calender so I can be there!
It’s interesting that Richard Rushfield is going to Gawker, which is one of the few sites reported to be doing well despite the general slump in advertising, and has actually seen its profits soared –
http://blogs.reuters.com/felix-salmon/2009/07/27/gawker-media-profits-soar/
http://nickdenton.org/5323836/
(Nick Denton is the founder of and the managing editor Gawker, so there might be a bit of spin in there.)
Perhaps blogs are the future.