Blogs are Bad

In a story about an onerous bill that was brought down, in part by the efforts of a Virginia blogger, we learn that

Political blogs proliferated during the 2004 presidential election. Many have survived and are becoming powerful tools for generating grassroots responses on public policy.

Rem Rieder, editor of American Journalism Review, said the blog phenomenon has both positive and negative consequences.

"It's certainly a way of stimulating participation in the political process. It's a way to get involved instantly," he said. "But the potential for bullying and intimidation is there. You wouldn't want people to not be putting in bills because they'd be flogged by blogs. And it can be a way of spreading misinformation or distorted information quickly. Blogs, while they are fascinating, are not journalism."

“Flogged”? “Spreading misinformation or distorted information quickly”? I thought that was the job of Fox News.

Comments

[Bob]

Well, Jcarille, at least when CBS screwed up, some heads rolled. The Bush Administration kills about 100,000 Iraqis and gets 1400 of our own killed, tortures prisoners, and no one gets canned.

That liberal bias crap is so off the wall anymore, what with talk radio, Fox News and cowardly networks, it's laughable.

[jcarrille]

Ummm...it seems, given recent events, that CBS News would be more relevant for your point.

Oh wait, they're biased FOR Democrats, so it's alright....

[Maura in VA]

Yeah, this comment really annoyed me, too, given the context. The implication, of course, is that the blogs that covered this bill spread misinformation, which is just what Cosgrove is saying.

The thing about blogs, done well, that is BETTER than print journalism is that we empower our readers to fact-check for themselves. They don't have to rely on us. My posts on HB1677 included links to the full primary source material on which the stories were based. Newspapers don't do that...who which is more of a vehicle with the potential to spread distortions?

Thanks for alerting me about your blog. I need to reorganize the links on the DfV site, so I'd like to add it to a new VA blogroll! Thanks.