Does anuone see a story on ONE blog and buy it 100% or do we wait for major news sources or many other sources/blogs to pick it up before we believe it? Is a blog somehow pure just because it's a blog? That's like saying a newspaper is beyond criticism just because it's a newspaper.
As for the blogosphere nailing Rather, what did Rothenberg say that contradicts the fact that certain blogs worked in revealing the truth of that story? I didn't notice him mentioning that, though I kind of skimmed the transcript and may have missed it. (Even in that case, though, the blogosphere would have been the resting place of that story if the MSM didn't also report the blogs' findings, right?)
I don't see what he said that's so horribly increibly clueless.
ROTHENBERG: It isn't -- yes, but, Howie, look, if CNN -- if INSIDE POLITICS is going to do segments on bloggers, they ought to do segments on C-SPAN callers. They have opinions, too. And they may be digging research, and they may have news.
And you ought do segments on poster -- people who put up posters on building sites. They have opinions.
"But I'm concerned about this being the latest fad, just like talk radio or... "
Amazing! Rothenberg thinks talk radio is just the latest fad.
I agree and to me it's a truism that opinions expressed
by bloggers will vary in quality, accuracy, etc. But isn't
that the case with every medium of communication? What
REALLY has the liberal mainstream media outraged is that
their monopoly is gone. Now they can be instantly fact-
checked, and their omissions as well as their biases can
be publicized. They'd still prefer the gone-forever world
of three networks broadcasting the same slanted news at
the same time with a captive audience. Now, with the Internet,
talk radio, more conservative publications available,
they find it VERY difficult to adjust to the new reality.