I’ve read a bit lately about the “critics” versus “bloggers” debate. I wanted to weigh in. So I will.

Some say bloggers don’t get the respect they deserve. That many of them are well informed, linked in individuals with valid opinions. That the traditional media looks down their noses at them purely out of elitism, missing the point that their millions of readers are enough to earn them legitimacy.

Then you’ll get the sorts who argue proper critique is not a hobby. That kosher critics hand down their judgements from atop years of study and experience. That their trend-setting powers have been well earned, and shouldn’t be usurped by some guy whose only qualification is that he can use a computer.

Me? I’m neither of the above. For me, it’s pretty simple.

Bloggers are striving amateurs. Critics are deserving pros.

Why isn’t that obvious to everyone else?

Critics are what bloggers become when they grow up. It’s not a them versus us thing. It’s not one or the other. It’s not new media cannibalising the old. It’s just a new coming-of-age curve.

Instead of working in the print room for ten years hoping someone will notice you, budding critics just set up on their own as bloggers. They still spend most of their time hoping someone notices them. And if enough people do, they have a shot of becoming a proper critic. Make no mistake, bloggers still sit misty eyed at 3am, dreaming of having a byline in a proper newspaper their parents will actually read.

The problem is bloggers and critics have plenty to be jealous of one and other about. The critic is jealous of the blogger’s lack of editorial handcuffs. The blogger is jealous of the critic’s job security and business cards. That jealousy (and no small amount of insecurity) fuels this “versus” situation, and throws up a smokescreen to the truth of the matter. We’re all on the same side, just some of us get paid for it and some of us don’t (yet).

I do agree with one point being made quite loudly by others though. Publishers need to find a better economic model for professional critique. People will pay for the opinions of those they most respect. Publishers need to be better at working that out, co-opt the people whose opinions are being listened to most keenly, and give them a desk.

Take Mark Zuckerman. He’s a baseball columnist in Washington DC. He lost his job as a sports writer, so he set up his own blog. It quickly became one of the most trusted sources of baseball news in DC. Rather than vent about how dangerous it was for people to get their sports news from a blogger, CSN Washington signed him up, and so instantly got access to a bunch of his readers. That’s smart, and it needs to happen more often.

So, I guess what I’m saying is, does anyone want to give me a job?