« CapitolLink: Cutting The U.S. Pipeline To Iraq | Main | Note To Capitol Flacks: Don't Gripe To Bloggers »

The Trashing Of The Blogosphere

You know the mainstream media are out to get blogs when you see a headline that says "Blogs Make Spreading Untruths Easier" over a story that mentions blogs only in passing.

The Indianapolis Star slapped that headline on a story about rumors that Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois, a likely Democratic presidential candidate, attended an Islamic school in Indonesia as a 7-year-old. In reality, the school was "public, secular and open to all faiths."

While the AP account did blame blogs in part for spreading the rumor, it said Fox News was "most notably" the media outlet that fostered the misperception. And the story was actually more about how politicians need to respond to fast-spreading controversies in today's changing media world than it was about blogs.

"Stories seemingly trivial or even untrue will appear instantly and reverberate through the media," the article said. "Candidates most skillful in anticipating them and reacting swiftly will have a big advantage."

So why the headline? Simple. Some green-eyeshade journalist, either at the Indianapolis paper or AP, hates blogs and saw an opportunity to unfairly trash bloggers just as some media outlets did Obama.

He or she is not alone. The Calgary Sun has a report about a new blog book that characterizes blogs as political communities for lonely people. The book is titled "Blogosphere: A New Political Arena," and the author is Michael Keren, a university of Calgary professor.

Here's an excerpt from the article, beginning with a quote from Keren:

“Blogging promised to give us some control ... but I think we are the same human beings we have always been, basically confused and alienated from the systems all around us.”

Although the medium offers seemingly unlimited freedom of expression, Keren said bloggers too often shape public opinion by reporting distorted versions of the facts. “Social dialogue and political dialogue must be marked by restraint -- one of the victims of the blogging phenomenon is the truth,” he said.

Keren notes blogging has become a tool for politicians, big business and celebrities, which he said undermines notions of the medium belonging to the masses.

Posted by Danny | 07:10 AM

Comments

Post a Comment