A substantial portion of the world's bloggers devote themselves to finding and pointing out mistakes in The New York Times. So it's only natural that Times articles about bloggers get a substantial amount of attention online.

Today the most popular article in the Times's technology section is about blogger burnout – the long hours and terrible diet that seem to be required to maintain a popular blog. (Usual disclosure: I sometimes write for the Times.) Two popular bloggers recently died of heart conditions, according to the story, while a third recently survived a heart attack. As the piece dutifully says, this hardly qualifies as an epidemic, and it's hard to be sure whether the stress of these bloggers' jobs contributed to their health problems. As it goes on, however, the article makes me glad I'm not blogging full time.

Among an elite group of bloggers – the relatively small amount of people who cover technology and run their sites as businesses – the rhythm of a news cycle that never stops can be punishing. Apparently, some now subsist on a diet and exercise regimen that seems better suited to cramming college students than middle-aged men. Getting up – to socialize, get lunch, or go for a walk – can mean getting beaten on an important piece of news. News generates traffic, which in turn generates money. The less you get out of the chair, the more money you make.

This isn't an entirely new idea. Journalism has always been a competitive business that prizes scoops. And every journalist constructs his life according to the rhythm of the world he covers, from the monthly magazine editor who works late every fourth week to the daily reporter who hits the bar after the early edition goes to press. It just so happens that, on the Internet, the news cycle is one of minutes rather than months, days, or even hours. So online journalists – and that's what these bloggers are – simply stay on deadline. This doesn't sound like much fun.

It also might not make for very good journalism. Although the Times article doesn't get into this much, these Internet sites have also changed the news cycle. Since bloggers are paid by the page view, directly or indirectly, they have to generate a certain amount of copy whether events warrant it or not. That lowers the bar on what constitutes news. Sites that cover video games and gadgets, for example, get several "news items" out of a single product release, from initial details to final reviews. Sometimes, photos of a product or its packaging constitute a separate story – or even an "exclusive."

This doesn't leave much time for coffee breaks, analysis, or anything that qualifies as thinking. I'd say more about this myself, but I've got another story to write. Have to make a living, you know.