Is it wrong to publish a hardcopy periodical about the online world?

From this item late last week on the Strategic Public Relations blog hosted by Kevin Dugan, it seems at least some people find the idea, well… repulsive. This specific item is about the launch of a new magazine, "Blogger and Podcaster." Adding insult to injury in the eyes of some, the publication launched itself with a traditional news release, sent over the wire, too.

I tried all weekend to get frothed up about this. Few people detest traditional news releases more than me. Having found via social media a way to reach the people I want to reach directly without the media middlemen and women always passing judgement first, the birth of yet another hardcopy publication — especially one on these online topics — makes me wonder. Is it possible that even people who presume to know what's happening online just don't get it yet? That would be scary.

But is this publication a tangible contradiction of itself? I don't know. A lot of zealots like me have a hard time tolerating the bell curve of opinion… those people who may be casual observers or new to the revolution or disbelievers, still. I don't think the magazine is worried much about offending the radicals. Plus I like a good magazine read myself every once in a while, don't you? I like a good live concert, too, even if I have the recorded versions of the music. Clearly, that's not even close to a perfect analogy, but you know what I mean?

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