News is no longer a one-way process - we report, you eat. Sam Smith at Progressive Review said it well years ago - reporters tried dipping their toes into the waters of the internet until the aquatic life snapped back. Reporters don't like that. They don't like feedback. They like their articles and their opinions to be carved into newsprint, with hundreds of thousands of copies delivered to the consumer, with maybe one or two letters to the editor coming back that hardly anyone reads anyway.
But things are different now. It used to be that all those who disagreed with the facts and/or the opinions expressed in a given newspaper had to gnash their teeth alone. But no longer. Now they can reach out through the internet. Share research. Dissect the column or the article. And make life absolutely miserable for the author.
Before Easongate, the MSM still viewed the blogsphere as an annoyance. Yeah, sure, we bit Rather in the ass. But he screwed up so bad that he was an easy target.
But there was a sea change this week. It used to be that the rabble out here in 'Netland had to beg and cajole the MSM to dip down and cover a story we were concerned about. If a tree fell in the blogsphere and the MSM didn't notice, well, it didn't make a sound. But a tree fell in the blogsphere this week... and it crunched a bigshot. And that tends to make all other bigshots, no matter what their political views may be, sit up and take notice. And start looking around for any widowmakers hanging over their heads.
Which is why we saw media sphincters tighten across the land. Fox News. The Wall Street Journal. Folks who normally, one would think, would be glad to see a cad like Eason Jordan finally called on the carpet. But there was a problem. It wasn't Fox News or the Wall Street Journal that called him out. It was the rabble. And suddenly, every MSM journalist woke up in a cold sweat and realized that they had lost control of the process. It now belongs to the democracy of the mob, and to the raw ability of ANYONE who is capable to make an argument and win in the marketplace of ideas.
As for me, I will no longer watch Fox News Sunday for validation of the work I do all week to present my views in the outside chance that Brit or some other panelist will cover my views with a glancing commentary. As of February 13th, 2005, we are now on equal footing with the MSM when it comes to setting the agenda. And the news will never be the same again.
ping to post #49 and your honest feedback on what I said. I personally think that the last week witnessed one of the most fundamental power shifts in this country as we have seen in some time. Please chime in whether you think I'm right, wrong, or should just drool into my cup....
In general, I agree with almost all of the comments in both of your detailed and thoughtful posts. I have only two related caveats.
The blogosphere does not have, and never should have, anything akin to an Editor in Chief or a Publisher. In short, there is no desk anywhere to put the plaque that says, "The buck stops here." On the other hand, there are a limited number of people who are at the top of the heap. I'll point, for instance, to Glen Reynolds at Instapundit.
One can quarrel how many people are in the top rank. And it is important to consider both liberal and conservative "top rank" people, even though they will disagree sometimes on what issue should lead, and how it should play out. However, I submit that the most generous count of all the people who are top line effective in carrying any issue in the blogosphere will come up with 200 names, give or take a few. Admittedly there are tens of thousands of participants. But like football, golf, Jeopardy!, rock music, published books, and all other competitive venues, it is fairly clear that a few lead, and many follow and react.
The same is true on the other side of the media divide. There are only a few hundred decision-makers, maybe less than that, who decide what is REALLY an issue over there. When we, the blogosphere persuade or force those few to take up an issue, we have succeeded.
dalight, you make an important point. This may be the first major instance where we (bloggers) forced the issue, and we got the ultimate result (Jordan out) WITHOUT the issue ever blossoming fully in the MSM. We forced the process to skip a step.
This may not be any more than an aberration, however. All along, we were trying to get a copy of the tape, which does exist. Maybe Jordan reviewed the tape, it was worse than any of us had guessed, and therefore on this issue he bailed quickly before the tape or transcript came out, i.e., before this became a full-dress MSM story. Just an educated guess.
John / Billybob
The following would indicate that you are correct. Everything changed last week:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1343547/posts
I believe that the coming of age was about six months ago: when the SwiftVets were supported and vaulted into the public consciousness by their measly $200k, a few interviews on talk radio and Fox, and relentless and constant publicizing by FR and others on the internet.
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