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May 11, 2006updated 22 Nov 2022 7:15pm

Times boss attacks blogs

By Press Gazette

Times Newspapers managing director Paul Hayes launched an attack on bloggers this week at the Internet World conference in London.

He said: "Millions of blogs have sprung up over the last year, but a cursory search shows that the majority of their information sources lead back to mainstream media. The bloggers are seeking or delivering insight, but what they need is accurate information on whatever subject they're interested in.

Time and again, bloggers draw their readers' attention to what they have read in papers, such as The Times.

"Blogs will be a continuing part of content output, but only a relative few will be read beyond the narrowest of audiences.

Most will disappear unnoticed and, frankly, unmissed by the world."

Those who would endure, he said, were: "branded bloggers" (well-known writers or celebrities); "intelligent aggregators" (who make little comment but drive readers to other useful sites); "well-connected bloggers" (such as journalists, ex-politicians or specialists who uncover information); and "brilliant bloggers" (who attract readers with their prose and wit). He added that Times Online now has more than eight million unique visitors a month, an annual growth rate of 115 per cent.

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