The Great Blogging Debate

With all the recent discussion about how hockey bloggers and the MSM interelate, we've come to realize that much of this debate has been framed by members of the MSM who do not read or write blogs, as well as by a select group of bloggers who've received unprecedented access to their teams. We were curious how bloggers outside of this group and unaffiliated with the MSM felt about some of the issues being bandied about, so we created a short questionnaire and posted it on Interchangeable Parts. These are the questions:

1. What was your motivation for starting blogging? Has that changed at all in the time you’ve been blogging?

2. What do you think your blog contributes to the hockey conversation?

3. What do you want to get out of the blogs you read?

4. What determines which blogs you read and which you don’t?

5. How important is the issue of gaining press access to you as a blogger?

6. To what extent do you feel accountable for the content of your blog? How concerned do you think readers should be about the authority and accountability of your blog?

7. How concerned are you about the authority and accountability of the blogs you read? Do you find it difficult to judge the authority and accountability of the blogs you read?

8. What value, if any, do you think blogging brings to the NHL?

In the two weeks since, we've received 15 responses (many from HLOG sisters, including CapsChick and Finny who've both addressed similar issues in this space). Links to the responses can be found at the end of this post:

IPB Blogging Questionnaire

Many of us here have very strong opinions on the topic of hockey blogging. If you are interested in answering any or all of the questions we've posed, we'd love to hear what you have to say. (We'll cross-post your answers, too, if you'd like your thoughts compiled with the rest of the set. Email us at interchangeablepartsblog [at] gmail [dot] com to let us know if you'd like to do a cross-posting.) We've seen a few trends develop in the answers that have come in so far, and we're intrigued to see if a broader sample size will reveal these trends continuing.