President of ABC News says they may be “falling short” to Bloggers

Speaking directly to how bloggers are becoming a force to be reckoned with, David L. Westin shows surprising candor in his Wall Street Journal commentary Caveat Vendor. Westin responds to the recent press that newspaper readership and television news viewership is declining. Some of the relevant snippets include:

“Why should someone turn to ABC News or The Wall Street Journal rather than to the news blogger that pops up on our computer? And this is where we may be falling short.”

“The size of the news pie is not shrinking. If anything, it’s growing.”

“People don’t want to wait for their news”

“But recently we’ve seen not only a dramatic increase in the ways that people can get their news, but also dramatic examples of some of our best and most respected news organizations falling short.”

“We have a lot to be proud of. But, in the end, the strength of our work lies entirely in the eye of the beholder, our readers and viewers.”

We are involved in a project that is restricted because a government agency says bloggers are not “Press”. I’d say this makes the case otherwise…