Andrew Marr lashes out at bloggers
Monday, 11 October 2010 5:30 PM
By politics.co.uk staff
Bloggers are "socially inadequate, pimpled" angry young men, Andrew Marr has said.
The former BBC political editor told the Cheltenham Literary Festival that citizen journalism would never replace professional journalism.
"Most citizen journalism strikes me as nothing to do with journalism at all," he said.
"A lot of bloggers seem to be socially inadequate, pimpled, single, slightly seedy, bald, cauliflower-nosed young men sitting in their mother's basements and ranting. They are very angry people.
"OK - the country is full of very angry people. Many of us are angry people at times. Some of us are angry and drunk.
"But the so-called citizen journalism is the spewings and rantings of very drunk people late at night," he continued.
"It is fantastic at times but it is not going to replace journalism."
"Most of the blogging is too angry and too abusive. Terrible things are said online because they are anonymous. People say things online that they wouldn't dream of saying in person."
Mr Marr, who has published a celebrated history of British journalism, currently presents the Andrew Marr programme on Sunday mornings and BBC Radio 4's Start the Week.
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