They've come to the right place
By Steve Benen Sunday Nov 11, 2007 7:22amBloggers routinely rely on traditional news outlets for breaking news, but it's good to know that traditional news outlets are also turning to bloggers.
According to the Arketi Group 2007 Web Watch Survey, 84 percent of journalists say they would or already have used blogs as a primary or secondary source for articles. 100% of those (journalists) surveyed say they rely on the Internet to help get their job done. One-quarter of journalists say blogs make their job easier, while 18 percent say instant messaging makes their job easier. [...]
Dr. Kaye Sweetser, APR, assistant professor of public relations at the University of Georgia's Grady College, said "...this survey shows that business journalists are embracing user-generated content like blogs, webinars and podcasts... in their day-to-day reporting..."
I'm glad to know we're helping.
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We do what we can.
Keep in mind that any credentialed journalist worth his/her salt is going to personally corroborate any information sole-sourced by a blogger.
My take on the current Mainstream Media and it’s complicity with corruption.
Just watch those Congressional debates on C-Span when a bill is not in the interest of the Republicans. The rage, wild animation, out right crazy reasons, loud hollering, reveals too many Republican Congressmen that show a character that should have never been voted for into office. Strikingly, Many Democrats that easily flip to the Republican agenda are disgusting, Joe Lieberman the star performer.
Lieberman was the worst decision Al Gore ever made choosing Lieberman as a Vice-President running mate. Listening to Lieberman talk makes me feel so incredibly aware of how a man can shift context and ideals so confusing as avoid answering a question fills the definition of the perfect Republican. My personal opinion is after all was said and done; Al Gore reviewed Lieberman’s debates and realized what a smuck Lieberman is and backed out of politics totally. Perhaps the whole party knew this but could not convince Al Gore for some dedicated reason that was a huge flaw in Gore’s decision making.
Seriously though, Mainstream Media along with C-Span and Congressional investigations need to get to Constitutional speed. All do not inform the public with the resources that are provided to it by today’s technology. Expert informative deep penetrating articulate reasoning with a good demographic spread in discussions needs to take place
Congressional investigations need to include time for citizen participation, especially random “Joe Six Pack” types, or Code Pink. Citizens who have a real desire to address an investigation should be able to especially those that have absolutely no connection to lobbies big money or are paid plants.
For it’s obvious now and well recognized that instead of a “Yankee Doodle Dandy” Bush is a “Dingle Doodle” a real “Captain Wrong Way Peach fuzz”. For years Mainstream Media has been covering-up this basic flaw in our most important position in America, Bush is inept to run the country, let alone the military. Most alarming is the Media knew it all the time and with foaming greed so did the rest of corporate America; Bush is the worst president America ever had, kept it under wraps, to profiteer, leading America to believe Bush is good for America. But now after being complicit with the Bush administration find themselves in a ridiculous debate about torture, water-boarding that should never have been done, but incredibly, Mainstream Media knew torture was going on all the time in secret prisons across the world, and kept silent for years.
The monumental irony is the Bush family has been close business and political family friends with the Bin Laden family for decades. This has to be one of the most suppressed Mainstream Media issues ever to be stifled and kept away from the American electorate. The whole concept is extraordinary with penetrating realities were the Bush family are business partners with the very enemy America is fighting. The Bin Laden, of a “Wahabbi” theology is the famous family that supports Osama Bin Laden the master minds of 911 the most severe practicing Islamic extremist Arab today. The Bin Laden family is the primer financers of the Osama Bin Laden and key funding to many operatives in America that train and educate Islamic extremist that American’s are infidels that must be wiped off the earth. Bush and Company are complicit with these to move the family fortunes through profiteering rather than serve America.
All this is an incredible result of greed, corruption, and Media abuse in America.
Vote Democratic.
As long as they don't turn to Pajamas Media or Instapundit for source material...
the way things have been goin...my take is....their not getting much truth from the Con sites.The American people aren't as stupid as this admin thinks we are.As for the media....the same applies
I don't think it's good at all. I want journalists to do their own work, not just parrot what's in a blog. Sometimes what ends up in a blog is just wrong.
This:
peaceful easy feeling @ 2:
And remember that this:
Comandante Agi @ 4:
Is exactly what happens. Bloggers are in general more susceptible to bad info and bs than "real" journalists. It just so happens that the Best bloggers are way better than almost every journalist out there. So it all depends on which bloggers they journalists are using.
of course some bloggers can be wrong..it's an open forum.....but in the process...the truth does come out.........you just have to be able to recognise it.The media have been very good a clouding the issues.But here and other blogs.....it's not so easy.
Amen Steverino .................. WWW , the last great hope for those searching for the truth .
And , I might add , the last bastion of democracy ............if it is to survive.
Nevada Bob
How nice for them. The bubbleheads get money for nothing and their checks for free while the blogsphere does all of the work for them gratis.
These so-called journalists regurgitating the Drudge Report isn't anything to get excited about.
The open forum and bloggers are the future of media. Media corruption is pretty obvious now. For instance, they are going to shut out Mike Gravel in the up coming CNN debates because he did not meet one arbitrary requirement. He did not raise $1 Million. Since when did the media decide who is a viable candidate for debate?
However, alternate media is flourishing. Mike Gravel will be hosting an alternate debate on November 15 starting at 4:30 p.m. (PST). I am sure some mainstream media may pick this up. It looks like the people will have to be the voice of reason.
You can see the alternate debate at http://www.ustream.tv/
the thing is blogs are getting very popular for info.People can go to any site and witness the arguments and flame wars....and even the behavior of commenter's.So they get to make up their own mind's as to what they want to believe.......not spoon fed info...with no voice of dissension available at the time.
I have been depending on bloggers for years to get accurate information. The biggest advantage bloggers have is the power of the link. You can access multiple information sources within an article to support whatever point the author is trying to make, allowing the reader to come to his/her own conclusion. Freking amazing. Sourcing is a beautiful thing.
The work that bloggers do for this democracy is astounding, and shockingly undervalued. Upon discovering the various news outlets on the internet tubes, I have been repeatedly impressed with the depth of thought and coverage given to the subjects, and I thank you all for the work you do.
Huzza!
P.S. How nice of Journalists to effing notice someone doing their jobs for them. Had they any shame they'd be paying you for doing their job for them.
at least here we get to question the BS.....and more times than not...they don't have a leg to stand on...and they disappear
fishboots @ 14:
keep on keepin on...btw.....I really enjoy your show...thanks.
The clocks are ticking, and things don't look good for the US. The basic truth found on the web is that things are going to hell. The basic question found on the web is 'What can we do about it?'
To solve a problem, it is first necessary to define it. Gore Vidal has thought as much as anyone has about this problem. Further, he has lived in a personal environment that has given him access and intimate knowledge of the people who make up the 'powers that be'.
Further, he is an honest 'traitor to his class', who realizes the immorality and hypocrisy of the 'leaders of this nation', and is willing to speak out, tell the truth, and try to define what can be done to change the US to something approaching it's idealistic purpose.
So when Gore concludes that there is not much that can be done, we're in trouble.
The argument should not be between Republican and Democratic parties, they are identical in their corruption and hypocrisy. The only reason to choose one or the other is to hope that a change of individual leadership will result in a change of policy. It's a dim hope, but better than nothing.
The argument should be between ignorance and education, between honesty and mendacity, between a nation governed by individuals and a nation ruled by corporations.
The only possible way to break this stranglehold the 'powers that be' have on the lives, policies, and direction of the once-great US, that I can see, is to enlighten it's citizens with truths, to educate them, so they have the tool (their informed mind) to properly play their part in governance.
So this fragile, new, exciting creation, the web, may be the most important thing any of us will see in our lifetimes. It has the potential to bypass the MSM, the Corporations, to overcome the failings of the US educational system, and to 'spread the word' among all who care to listen. But it is a potential, only.
WHATEVER ELSE WE DO OR DON'T DO IN THIS NATION, WE MUST NOT LET THE WEB FALL INTO THE GOVERNMENT'S HANDS, OR THE CORPORATE HANDS, OR THE MSM'S HANDS. NOT FOR 'SECURITY', NOT TO 'THWART TERRORISM', NOT TO PREVENT 'THEM' FROM 'COMING OVER HERE'.
IT IS OUR BEST, AND MAY BE OUR LAST, HOPE FOR AN HONORABLE FUTURE.
have a great day folks.....
So they sit somewhere with their computer on and ape what they read? No matter which site they visit, I hope the double check the info before "writing" it. Do they credit the site where they find their stories? They should.
We have to get our brains out of the "quarterly report" trance. The absolute unwillingness to do anything - ANYTHING - even if it lies at the heart of the mission of the business, that shows up as an expense without a corresponding profit, is killing us as a nation, destroying our economy, and in journalism, cutting out effective unbiased reporting.
We also have to break the hypnosis of the mindset that the media exists to serve the interests of the only the most wealthy capitalists among us. That mentality leads our society backwards, re-instates class-ism and racism, and cripples the flow of information we need to be informed citizens.
It is extremely difficult to run a representative republic without an informed, educated public that understands its duties as citizens to protect our rights and freedoms. And the owners of major media outlets have decided to PROPAGANDIZE citizens with FEAR-MONGERING and THE POLITICS OF HATE because they believe it is necessary to keep the quarterly reports looking good, and so that they themselves gain favor with the super-wealthy power class.
To maintain our type of government takes honesty and courage. And the media has become very risk-aversive. I don't mean simply taking on physically dangerous assignments such as war-reporting: there are plenty of reporters who respond to that challenge and will learn the skills of reporting from hot zones.
Instead I mean the courage to tell the "story behind a story", the courage to examine the behavior of the super wealthy power class, the courage to call a spade a spade and not go along with the doublespeak. The courage to fight the propaganda, to say to your editor, "I am going to report the truth, and if I can't do it at your media company, I'll find one where I can, or I'll go independent, but dammit, I will report the truth."
If you are a reporter, that lies at the heart of your business. If you are sacrificing that for the sake of the quarterly report, you are part of the problem.
That's the very first thing to face up to.
"American foreign policy has been a horrible failure for the last fifty years. "
no you smirking dorkwad, it has been totally FUBAR since 2000.
It's not really journalism. It's copy shuffling.
Reporters getting story ideas from FreeRepublic isn't my idea of a good thing...
I'm afraid that I can't entirely agree with the premise that it's a good thing for journalists to be turning to bloggers for the source of their information. If the journalist is turning to the blogger for ideas and inspiration regarding stories which deserve attention, that's perfectly fine. However, if the journalist is turning to the blogger for the data or the facts upon which to base the story in lieu of doing his/her own research...that's nowhere nearly so fine. Let's face it -- bloggers are not journalists. Granted, in these times when many journalists in the mainstream media appear to have forsaken the ethics of their profession in order to appease corporate interests, that's not such a bad thing. Nevertheless, this doesn't change the fact that bloggers on the whole trade more in opinion and perspective than they do on fact. One does not necessarily need to possess credentials of any kind or pass any kind of tests in order to become a blogger -- nor are they necessarily accountable to anyone apart from themselves. This is not necessarily a bad thing, but neither is it necessarily a good thing. If the blogger is an ethical and conscientious person who puts forth a concerted effort to research the issues he or she chooses to write about, then there is no reason why someone -- even a reporter -- should be afraid to turn to that person as a potential source of news and information. because that person is in effect if not in actuality an ethical journalist.
Unfortunately, there's really no easy way to tell a good blogger from a bad blogger at a casual glance -- that is, not unless the bad blogger is so blatantly sloppy that anyone with any sort of functioning sensory apparatus at all can immediately tear the arguments apart (and even then, there will probably be a certain number of people who accept the bad blogger's arguments). Telling the good bloggers from the bad bloggers requires time, patience, objectivity, reservation of judgment, and careful observation -- all of them things which a lot of people simply don't have in great supply. That's one of the reasons why people should believe almost nothing of what they hear and only about half of what they read.
"I’m glad to know we’re helping"
OK, but I think what is meant is Drudge and Politico, in the main.
The problem with the mass media is that it has become 'expert-driven' - as well as obsessed over what the competition is doing. That is, it's important to have a 'brand' to sell people: there's the business reporter, the guy on the political beat, the medical reporter, and so on. Then one affiliate watches what the other two affiliates are doing on a given day, what their lead story is, and how their ratings stack up.
In one sense, that informs you as to what your audience considers important. In another, less flattering way, it's mistaking style over substance. Lord knows we've had consultants and even management who start obsessing over spiffy graphics and externals rather than solid journalism. (In the midst of a spiffy graphics period where words like NEXT and COMING UP flew out onto the screen with accompanying sound effects, one manager came up with this insightful comment: "Your *whoosh* was too loud.")
The blogosphere offers an opportunity to connect to more than an audience, but the people whom the public trust of broadcast news is supposed to serve. (Even the 'town hall meeting' has become a bit of a marketing ploy.)
At the same time, blogs are no less or more trustworthy than experts, and should be considered/vetted carefully.
I don't even read papers and magazines anymore. Kudos to bloggers and progressive talk radio hosts
We're losing progressive talk radio stations across America as we speak and this blog is one of few places you'll find this link!
http://www.nonstopradio.com/
willie @ 21:
I don't see those as mutually exclusive. American foreign policy HAS been a disaster for at least 50 years, and its just that its been even worse under bush.
USA is due to fall, never in all history has mankind had a lessor opinion of religion, due to chimpy the curious dipwit. IF we had any real objective reporting, we would have the chimps old college roomates and guardsman telling stories of what a great leader dumbya was.
Death Star @ 30:
Nobody remembers George from the Guard. That came out during Rathergate - even though the documents were apparent forgeries, there were no witnesses to the contrary. Now, I remember a fair measure of people from high school, others from college ... where are these people in George's history? He's not remembered because he a) wasn't there, or b) was completely mediocre - you remember the disasters, and the stars ... not the privileged fratboys schlubbing their way through their service committment to avoid going overseas.
And his leadership skills are self-evident: a string of failed companies, clueless management of a Major League Baseball team where he stood in opposition to the proposed playoff system (and insisted that History would vindicate him) and traded away this guy named Sosa.
The internet is the wildcard the forces of evil did not count on, or figure into their strategy. It is having as profound effect on politics, as the printing press had. The ability to share thoughts with other citizens, and read stories from around the world, could make this the most enlightened/knowledgeable generation America has ever had.
In the past, we had a 30-60 minute local news channel, which generally ignored national, and international stories (unless they had the 'loss of life appeal'). Then we had the national news affiliate. In the late 70's, 'news' started morphing to 'news entertainment'. Hard journalism began to suffer. Throughout the 80's and 90's, the metamorphosis continued, leaving us with 'corporate news'. That has continued right up to today. Bill Moyers Journal, Buying the War did a fine job of exposing how the established media outlets have become compliant partners for the right-wing agenda. But, this is all known to the readers here.
I really do not think the right-wing was expecting the internet political blogging to grow as quickly as it has, or to become such an important player. I think they believed they had the media pretty well under control. Surprise!
I have become pen pals with two very well-known investigative reporters. One began reading various blog sites and began posting earlier this year. He says there are many speculative things he cannot put in the paper, but can post for discussion purposes. The other one reads the sites, but does not post on them. They have both told me that many of their colleagues are very frequent participants on the web. One also said something interesting. He said there are reporters who are sitting on stories which their management will not run. Or, they may have part of a story, but management will not cut-loose of the funds to develop it. The web provides a means to publish the story, or add their 'partial' story to a story another is working on.
Who knows, we may see the resurgence of a vibrant fourth estate!
BEFORE THE MIKES GO ON
Kristol (wide creamy smirk): Watch me lie, Juan. Watch me lie.
Williams: Aw, come on, Bill, you said this time you wouldn't. Shucks . . .
Um...journalists get their material from blogs? What the? O........K.....that sounds real professional
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