This post is a summary of my thoughts on this conundrum. I will not be making any link backs or citing any references and I apologise in advance for my queer tone. Media here refers to fashion and beauty writers in magazines (including online) while bloggers refers to fashion and beauty bloggers.

This issue has been on my mind for a long time coming. It first caught my attention when I read somewhere that Tavi Gevinson, the infamous 13 year old blogger had graced the front row at the New York Fashion Week in September. She apparently wore a hat that was so awkward the ‘media’ sitting on the rows behind had difficulty viewing the stage (personally I think the girl is a genius but that is besides the point). Some media were infuriated by the mere sighting of a tiny teenie being given more attention than they were and went on a rampage about ‘bloggers’ taking over fashion shows. It seems like mere bloggers or rather bliggers with laptops as some have suggested, do not have the necessary qualifications to be at such events. All they have is a brain, some fingers and a laptop- not good enough!

I refused to pay any attention to all of that because I’m not a fashion junkie and I chose to be oblivious to the fact that the beauty industry should take a hint. After I read a certain post on a certain make up advice forum, I felt the pinch and was awakened! This editor completely dissected a group of (super amazing) beauty bloggers who she met at IMATS. According to her, bloggers do not have the right to be classed as media (but she does because she is a professionally trained artist with a website) and she was annoyed at how the organisers of the show even conceded to such an idea of having bloggers with press passes.

I happened to also recently visit a site where the editor claimed that he was happy customers could see through the bloggers who were trying to steal them (OK I paraphrased that a bit).

I still refused to budge. I would rather just keep blogging and ignore it all.

I happened to be driving through Elephant & Castle at precisely 2pm on Wednesday afternoon with my dad when something came on the radio that tickled my eardrums. It was a man who was being interviewed about the role bloggers are playing in the media industry. I could not believe my ears when he said bloggers are unprofessional and unedited and will not be taken as seriously as mainstream media (something like that- my dad was munching the bananas quite loudly).

I refuse to ignore it any more. I mean, London radio is huge isn’t it?

On the night of the 82nd Academy Awards when I was looking for images of outfits, as soon as I googled, the first site that came up was Temptalia. If you read or follow Temptalia’s blog, you will see that she puts in a kind of effort that is very hard to find in any beauty magazine. That site had 1 million visitors in 1 month. How can anyone in their right minds say that bloggers will not be taken seriously? That is preposterous.

My dad is an avid historian and he told me of how anyone who drove an automobile in the early days, had to wait until all the pedestrians and animal riders had finished using the roads before they could move. The automobile was new and people could not fathom it. They refused to give it a chance and eventually it took over.

The rate at which bloggers are being generated is a clear message to the so called mainstream media. There is something about bloggers that the media cannot provide that is why we have been embraced. If something is working, there is a reason for it. I understand that most of the writers in mainstream media studied for years for a journalism degree or something similar. They were trained and will mostly find it frustrating that ‘quacks’ are being taken more seriously. I however see that as a questioning of the relevance of such education to online press, if millions of people out there, without that qualification, are doing it (better in some cases). It is not like that with most professions. No one will hire their cousin to represent them in court, it has to be a lawyer. No one will let a neighbour operate on them, it has to be a surgeon. I refuse to believe that just because I do not have a writing degree, I cannot logically put my thoughts together, research deeply, take amazing images and put them out there.

IMATS London had the most pre-event ticket sales in the history of the show. Pardon my ignorance, but I have never read about IMATS in cosmopolitan (my mum is addicted to those so I have no choice but to browse) or elle or marie claire (or whatever else there is). I believe it was solely the work of bloggers and ‘YouTube gurus’ and of course the show organisers. The way I see it is, Tavi has over 4 million readers, I’d give her front row if I organised an event!

Alas this is only a temporary situation. The blogger train is a high speed one and there is no stopping it. The world is changing fast and my best advice to the media is to change with it or face extinction. In fact I believe it is the fear of extinction that is causing all this drama in the first place.

There will always be those (ostentatious or otherwise) who will not reduce themselves to a blog. They’d rather read something in a prestigious magazine or the like. For those who are travelling too, magazines play a huge role. Our generation however, is not accustomed to all of that . We are the online generation and media must adapt. It is not like they have no place and as far as advertising is concerned, we’ll let the advertisers choose where they want their message.