ARE BLOGS TAKEN SERIOUSLY?

Are you more likely to believe a blog posting or a story in a newspaper or magazine?
The recent developments at Nation Multimedia Group have been hotly debated here and in other blogs. 2Bangkok published a story on Friday headlined "The Nation for sale". If that same story had appeared in print it would certainly have required a response and official statement to The Stock Exchange of Thailand, so why are many companies so dismissive of the power of blogs? The written word is powerful wherever it may be.
If Nation Multimedia Group is trying to offload its English language titles I fear it will not find too many buyers. The current cutbacks make sense in the context of a company trying to reduce costs in order to make the balance sheet look good, but too many cuts without a quick sale might damage the brands in question beyond repair.
In the last year Nation Multimedia Group has sold assets, including its head office, to pump funds into the business. It's not going to be too long before there's nothing left to sell.