In case you were wondering whether CBS was still bitter about having their cover blown by the blogging community, check this article out. It seems that CBS' assertion is that the blogging public took the exit poll information and misinterpreted it where it didn't outright fabricate data. The Wall Street Journal has a much different perspective, and one that I think is much closer to an intelligent response to the election day exit poll mayhem.
Granted, I will allow that the blogging community is hardly professional as a while... and I'm not going to begin to assert that Slate is anything other than a bunch of opinionated liberal hacks attempting to make money for Microsoft by spouting whatever nonsense will sell... but I think the article in general sells the blogging community short in an attempt to cast aspersions on the credibility of any non-commercial news source. Scratch that, any news source not of the venerable cadre of hardcopy print media and airwaves/cable syndicates.
Posted by Vengeful Cynic at November 8, 2004 03:46 PM | TrackBackLet's not be unfair. I've seen that same "bad bloggers posting exit polls blah blah" story on CNN, MSNBC, SBS Australia, and ABC Australia. I don't read FoxNews, so you'd have to check there yourself.
But it's not just CBS, contrary to what wingnuts like AllahPundit and RightWingNews would like to paint.
Posted by: Shem at November 17, 2004 12:57 AMThat's to say, all the major media outlets are trying to protect their jobs from the blogosphere. They see the danger it poses to their industry, and now (during the blogosphere's first widely-covered U.S. election, while it is "new" and developing) is the best time to knock the threat out. Paint it as "unprofessional" and unreliable, something that shouldn't be taken seriously.
Those who ignore the other outlets' coverage of this, instead gloating against CBS in a prideful short-sighted one-up to their first breakthrough, are missing the real blitz being created in the media dialougue.
Posted by: Shem at November 17, 2004 01:01 AMYou have a point... it would seem that most of the major news outlets are coming out against blogging. That said, I wouldn't go so far as to say "all major media outlets" are ducking and covering with regards to the blogosphere. Especially with regards to the print media, they have already had to come to grips with the blogosphere and have been much more likely to give blogging a fair critique. I seem to remember seeing an article in USA Today about bloggers and the election, but I can't put my fingers on the article right now.
Posted by: Vengeful Cynic at November 17, 2004 08:51 AM