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Atlas Mugged: How a Gang of Scrappy, Individual Bloggers Broke the Stranglehold of the MSM
The Atlas Society ^ | Edward B. Driscoll, Jr.

Posted on 09/23/2007 8:05:31 AM PDT by shove_it

The twentieth century was the high point of mass culture—or “the overculture” as some call it. Any culture that could produce Citizen Kane, Casablanca, and The Honeymooners can’t be all bad.

But eventually, the connection between media elites and their audiences began to fracture. Though apocryphal, the line frequently attributed to Pauline Kael of the New Yorker in 1972 sums up the growing chasm between the overculture—particularly the media—and its audience: “I don’t know how Nixon won. No one I know voted for him.”

Just as the Big Three car manufacturers, with a once-monolithic hold on American consumers, seemed unaware that the public wanted a wider choice of cars (until Japan listened and responded), Pauline Kael’s in-crowd of coastal elites has, if anything, become even more clueless and resistant to emerging changes in the culture and dissemination of information.

How clueless? In 2004, Jonathan Klein, the former executive vice president of CBS News, described blogging as “a guy sitting in his living room in his pajamas writing.” Last May, Time-Warner CEO Richard Parsons was quoted as saying, “The Googles of the world, they are the Custer of the modern world. We are the Sioux nation. They will lose this war if they go to war. The notion that the new kids on the block have taken over is a false notion.” ...

(Excerpt) Read more at atlassociety.org ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Constitution/Conservatism; Culture/Society; Government
KEYWORDS: msm; newmedia; pajamahadeen
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To: shove_it
"But whatever its future form, the idea and ideal of individual self-publishing—something that our pamphleteer-era Founding Fathers would instantly understand and enthusiastically applaud—is safely here to stay."

Interesting read.

41 posted on 09/23/2007 3:29:25 PM PDT by 2111USMC
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To: shove_it
It can be said with all due modesty the Pajamahadeen changed the world. And the MSM have never forgiven them for it.

"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus

42 posted on 09/23/2007 3:34:01 PM PDT by goldstategop (In Memory Of A Dearly Beloved Friend Who Lives In My Heart Forever)
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To: Lancey Howard; PGalt; Valin
Thank you both for the kind words.

In most respects, blogging is a labor of love and I appreciate the encouragement.

Seen this Valin?

Cheers,

knewshound

http://www.knewshound.blogspot.com/

43 posted on 09/23/2007 4:39:31 PM PDT by knews_hound (In order to not be banned, I no longer discuss Politics here.)
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To: tcrlaf

MSM doesn’t seem to grasp the notion of “asymmetric conflict” either. MSM has far more to lose.


44 posted on 09/23/2007 7:40:33 PM PDT by scrabblehack
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To: scrabblehack

I think the MSM is still the Alpha Dog. I can find no other explanation for the candidacies of McCain and Tooty Fruity Rudy. The MSM is the reason why we have the governator rather than Tom McClintock, and the reason why Fred is polling 23% while Hunter polls 1%.

We still have a lot of hills to take.


45 posted on 09/23/2007 10:27:53 PM PDT by Kevmo (We should withdraw from Iraq — via Tehran. And Duncan Hunter is just the man to get that job done.)
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To: shove_it
A few thoughts:

1. the MSM is a coastal-elite, hyper-urban groupthink paradigm. the MSM ignores the opinions of the Heartland except when that opinion is identical to elite Coastal thinking.

2. the MSM sees their purpose as being to advance global socialism, not to merely report news. Come up with something that convinces Americans to transfer free wealth to Africa and the MSM will publish it. Come up with something that attacks the U.S. resistance to international collectivism and the MSM will publish it.

3. ...but the above can’t win by telling the truth and holding open debates. Knowing that it must win through deceit limits the power of the MSM to those instances where it can completely control information.

That power/control has been reduced over the past 60 years by private magazines/newsletters, pirate/ham radio, BBS’s, talk radio, the Internet, Fox News, independent films/documentaries, etc.

Once an unquestioned ethical powerhouse, CBS’ 60 Minutes is now a laughingstock...all because of the lack of the MSM’s ability to fully control all information and public debate.

4. Thus, we are seeing the MSM post-epoch...they are past their peak (of power) and they can’t get it back so long as their prime goal is to advocate global socialism through deceit.

46 posted on 09/23/2007 10:50:31 PM PDT by Southack (Media Bias means that Castro won't be punished for Cuban war crimes against Black Angolans in Africa)
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To: Southack
The only advantage the enemedia has over the blogosphere is direct access to the politicians and the broadcast facilities.

Now if say a POTUS refused to deal with the MSM and say go directly to the people via the internet, take questions from citizens instead of reporters, the White House press corps would be irrelevant.

47 posted on 09/23/2007 11:05:32 PM PDT by Rome2000 (Peace is not an option)
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To: knews_hound

It's the only sub-$400 sub-notebook out there. Runs linux off of a solid state hard-drive. Comes out beginning of October and I can't wait!

Eee PC

48 posted on 09/24/2007 4:41:48 AM PDT by Eepsy (The object of opening the mind, as of opening the mouth, is to shut it again on something solid.)
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To: shove_it

What is this obsession, bordering on religion, on insisting that news organizations be “objective”? In the early years of our nation every newspaper was an advocate of one political position or another. The founding fathers expected it to be so, and expressly codified their right to be partisan.


49 posted on 09/24/2007 4:53:30 AM PDT by ko_kyi
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To: Lucius Cornelius Sulla; Buckhead; All
Since Rather has dredged up “Rathergate” again here’s an encore of some 3yr. old FR threads to commemorate the event for your viewing pleasure:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1223397/posts

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1222920/posts

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1221395/posts

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1221216/posts

I’ll try to get some credit for inter-net forums (especially FR) with this author and editor.

50 posted on 09/24/2007 5:43:01 AM PDT by shove_it (old Old Guardsman)
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To: knews_hound

Thanks


51 posted on 09/24/2007 5:43:40 AM PDT by Valin (History takes time. It is not an instant thing.)
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To: SauronOfMordor
You raise a very good point, and if I may amplify it, the ability of the "professional journalist" to read, write, construct sentences and comprehend is pathetically weak.

They are "face men and women" only. And their writing is so bad that any chance they have at being accepted is totally discounted. They are ignorant and vapid.

52 posted on 09/24/2007 6:00:09 AM PDT by Redleg Duke ("All gave some, and some gave all!")
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To: ko_kyi
It’s fine for news organizations to be partisan, so long as they don’t claim to be non-partisan and objective when it’s proved they are not.
53 posted on 09/24/2007 6:00:24 AM PDT by shove_it (old Old Guardsman)
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To: knews_hound

I know guys who use their iPhones for that.


54 posted on 09/24/2007 1:43:31 PM PDT by FreedomPoster (Guns themselves are fairly robust; their chief enemies are rust and politicians) (NRA)
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To: FreedomPoster
You know, until you mentioned it, I had never thought of it.

Now if I can just find some way to write it off my taxes.....

Cheers,

knewshound

http://www.knewshound.blogspot.com/

55 posted on 09/24/2007 2:38:00 PM PDT by knews_hound (In order to not be banned, I no longer discuss Politics here.)
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