Blogs should not replace newspaper columns, says former Times editor

Blogs are like 'bar room chats' and cannot be taken as seriously as newspaper columns, a former editor of The Times has said.

Giving evidence to the Lords Communications Committee as part of the inquiry into media ownership and the news, Simon Jenkins said the difference between the two formats was like writing 'a collected essay' and 'laying down your pen, going to the pub and telling the guy next to you what you really think'.

"It's the difference between writing and a bar room chat, which is why I can't take it terribly seriously who answers you back - it's the sort of people you would get answering back in a bar chat," said Jenkins, who is a contributing blogger to the Huffington Post.

Referring to his own experiences of blogging, Jenkins said the flexibility of writing for a blog was 'quite stimulating', but stressed he did not wish the medium to replace 'old-fashioned' newspaper columns.

Speaking to the same committee, former Sunday Times editor Andrew Neil argued that newspapers are signing up bloggers to maintain diversity and ensure that 'opinions don't get too dull'.

"The rise of blogging and opinion outside of the mainstream has caused newspapers a problem, because quite often these blogs are more interesting than the editorials in the newspapers," Neil added.

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