Montreal Gazette features Montreal Tech Watch (5)
I totally forgot to write about it, but last week, the Montreal Gazette featured Montreal Tech Watch. The piece was written by Steve Faguy, a freelancer who is also writing a blog for world domination purposes about what’s up in Montreal, much alike Montreal weblog but with more in-depth analysis and more opinion too I guess. I won’t add more comments or paraphrase what has been said, so go read it for a “behind-the-scene” look of the blog.
Kudos to Montreal Gazette for having a column about local bloggers. I used to assimilate the Montreal Gazette as a traditional (read: not cool) newspapers — well, not just for someone like me anyways. But it turns out that they are one of the most innovative local media. Roberto Rocha is going a great work with his blog, and that’s how the SAT was convinced to let their place become a meetup for barcamps, democamps and every other tech meetup. They also had bloggers covering the International Jazz festival, although it might not be perfect as Steve says. I read some time to time La Presse, and they don’t have this focus on blogging. The Journal de Montréal journalists are also blogging, but I know it’s not specially encouraged by their editors. They just follow the trend.
If you want my personal opinion about the article, it’s great, of course. If more people read the blog because of the feature, it would be great. I just want to say that this blog is not about local startups: it is about innovation and technology. It just happens that startups are where most of the innovation comes form. Also, it was the first time I saw me and the word geek together, which should project the wrong image. Of course my full-time job is in web development and all its derivatives, but I am convinced that technology is never an end in itself and that it should always be made accessible to everyone. I also don’t want to turn Montreal Tech Watch into a place just for programmers or for people who have been working, say 10 years in the industry. I know a lot of people who are working in technology now but they had a very different background a few years ago. So I think “branding” this blog as a hyper-focused tech blog with its vocabulary and expressions for the “elite” is not the right way to go. All readers with an interest in innovation and technology are welcomed :-)
But I guess visitors won’t stop themselves to assume Montreal Tech Watch is about… well… Montreal tech watch… ;-)
@martin lessard, yes the name in itself is pretty much explanatory
I think you’re wrong about the Gazette – I don’t believe they truly understand new media. Content walls are not part of the direction new media is heading…
I see large media outlets as grasping to their old models, while offering a weak apology to the new way media and content is distributed. This will change, with time, as more and more of them go out of business. It’s a scary time to be a journalist.
Journalism itself needs to be re-invented. Sadly, it doesn’t seem like it’s going to come from within.
the reinvetion of journalism is a whole new topic by itself. one thing is for sure though: we still need journalists – ie people who is going to call politicians and get the info, or go the middle east and make a report about current events. although maybe there could be local bloggers doing that work too.
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