Many US blogs are all agog at an article in the New York Times today which deals with the perceived stress faced by US bloggers especially those who are paid to blog full time or otherwise make money from blogging. It’s all overly morbid and I think some of the families of those who have died and are mentioned in the article may be offended – and where are all the stats about stress and death in the mainstream media? Think the NYT have a bit of a problem on the bias front.

But it does raise interesting points about the pressure to get there first with the news, the diggs, linklove, and the money.

There are growing legions of online chroniclers, reporting on and reflecting about sports, politics, business, celebrities and every other conceivable niche. Some write for fun, but thousands write for Web publishers — as employees or as contractors — or have started their own online media outlets with profit in mind.

One of the most competitive categories is blogs about technology developments and news. They are in a vicious 24-hour competition to break company news, reveal new products and expose corporate gaffes.

To the victor go the ego points, and, potentially, the advertising. Bloggers for such sites are often paid for each post, though some are paid based on how many people read their material. They build that audience through scoops or volume or both.

I’m off to find some stress relieving blogs for people in Ireland to prevent the effects of this syndrome should it ever reach these shores. Somehow I don’t see the economic climate prevailing that’s going to have bloggers here in such a state. Maybe I’m wrong?