A blog conversation has arisen concerning the nature of comics journalism, and it’s implied or observed bias that it may or may not have in relation to it’s subject. I’m probablybiased in the matter, as I have been working as a comics journalist for the past several years, but I have alot of feelings on this issue.

The Comic Book Bin started it off in an essay titled
“Can You Trust Newsarama”, saying:

The debate about independent news reporting on the comic book industry has been raging for years. Yet, instead of improving, it seems that larger vendors are exerting more control over supposedly independent news sources. Other vendors without similar clout may suffer comparative unfair advantages.

Heidi MacDonald goes deeper in a post at The Beat, speaking from her years in the trenches at Disney, The Pulse, Publishers Weekly and her long-running blog.

Well yeah, no duh! I work for a legitimate news outlet — Publishers Weekly Comics Week — but when attempting to write my own “report” on certain news stories I’ve actually been told the only statement anyone would make was up on Newsarama, which already has a sweetheart deal set up with the big players at DC and Marvel to put up weekly press releases on thoroughly vetted subjects.

Of course, if I were a real journalist, I would do an end around and get some of those people who, “would not be named because of the sensitive nature of the discussion,” or even find someone who would speak ON the record and write an actual story. But I’m lazy, and to be honest the cost-to-benefit ratio of such an enterprise would not be worth it right now.

Here’s what I posted as a comment at The Beat:

At the end of the day, all of these operations are businesses and are run with the implicit goal to make money. With that in mind, it’s safe to assume that these third parties don’t have your, the individual reader, best interest at heart and that you shouldn’t trust then implicitly. But do I think that’s a bad thing? No.

Each site and magazine has it’s pros and cons, but I think all in all that the comic industry has the journalism contigent that it deserves. Sure, more (as in quality, not quantity) would be great for the small fraction of us who want to read that kind of real news rather than EW-style entertainment news, but there’s honestly not the financial backing to fund such a venture.

I’d be first in line to read/write/consume for such a venture, but as heidi says “the cost-to-benefit ratio of such an enterprise would not be worth it right now.”