So let me get this straight. The best answer we have against the Washington Post’s erratic and monopolistic reporting is, “ur reporter iz teh ghey”?
Let’s say Tim Craig gets sacked tomorrow (ain’t happening, but let’s say). What happens? The reporting at the WaPo (a) improves, (b) rolls over to allow anyone else to scoop them on stories, or (c) becomes even more aggressive because a handful of Virginia bloggers have declared war on an organization with a readership of 2.2 million?
Appreciate the sentiment… but the timing in this scenario is beyond odd.
Think about this: WaPo says liberal bloggers are ineffective, on a backdrop where Craig “enlightens” Tribbett about how roundly he is disliked. Craig piles on, Raising Kaine disputes the effectiveness of liberal bloggers, and all of the sudden… Tim Craig is gay.
Gee… whoda thunk it? That’ll scare him off…
Are bloggers effective? In limited areas, of course. Are they effective where the demographics of the respective party are strongest? Maybe. Have the progressive bloggers singlehandedly picked off a Republican? Hells no.
Problem is, so long as certain bloggers are more content with the approbation of the MSM rather than creating innovative content, bloggers will only be as effective as the MSM allows us to be.
Jim Webb won with barely 11,000 votes. Every interest group in the Commonwealth takes credit for that win (or on our side of the fence, “if only Allen had done X, we’d have won…”) and thumps their chest accordingly.
Here’s the asskicker: Without the WaPo blaring the macaca story for 18 days straight, does “the blogosphere” get a win? If you say yes, you’re a moron and deserve to be mocked.
Incessantly.
The MSM is drifting towards new media. Welcome to our brave new world. If you intend to blog and be considered part of the public square, you’d best not count on the scraps from the MSM table. With the cacaphony of blogs out there, it’s not enough.
There’s a handful of blogs who might consider themselves big fishes in a small pond. The reality check is that Washington Post (or your favorite local newspaper) is a whale in a bathtub. No one likes it, no one likes the slant or half-done reporting that confined space on a newspaper requires. But responding to an argument with “you’re gay” is something most of us left on the playground years ago.
Let’s not overestimate our importance, guys. When pushed, Washington Post and other MSM outlets can and will punish blogs accordingly with a series of methods: ignoring them, categorizing them as tabloids, or doing some investigative reporting of their own on the authors of said blogs. For you it’s a hobby, for them it’s a livelihood.
See why I’ve been pounding the table on ethical blogging?
Welcome to the big leagues, fellas.