Now Why You Gonna Act Like That, Brokaw?

By: Unknown

Oi! Now, really, Brokaw, Jennings, and Cronkite! Do you really think bloggers are engaging in slander, libel, and "political jihad" on a regular basis and actually affecting anyone in society?

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Time for a lesson in competition:

There are thousands of bloggers. There are millions of blogs. A blog must compete with other blogs, or be content to mediocrity. Thus, most blogs can't afford to throw slander about willy-nilly. Additionally, people are generally pretty intelligent: if a blogger is committing libel and slander, most people are aware that this is so. Most people do not believe said blogger. Granted, some will and do believe these claims, but this is no different then the old ways of spreading false information: these people would merely have believed what people gossiped about in the barber shop, the grocery store, the local bar, the racetrack.

And blogger's are not journalists. Stop expecting them to follow journalistic procedure! I'll amend my statement to make it less overarching: there are some bloggers who are legitimate journalists (we here at IVIC are legitimate editorialists).

"How is it possible for these people to get on the air with any allegation they want to make, any statement they want to make, as if it were true, as if they were journalists, which they are clearly not? They are scandalmongers." -Walter Cronkite

I take exception to this. It's these kinds of blanket statements that prove dangerous. Moreso, it's an obvious lie, it is libel, and it proves more potent that libel from a blogger, as it's from a generally respected news source.

Of course, my theory is that the old guard fears for their position. As more people seek an on-demand world, where they can access stories when they wish, they also turn to accessing stories from whom they wish. Most often, they turn to multiple stories, to compare sides and choose their viewpoint. People simply don't need the old guard anymore. It would behoove them to switch to the internet as a means of news conveyance. For instance, most people have high speed connections, so movie files of the Rathers and Brokaws of the world delivering the news are an entirely usable option.

As far as why bloggers can get any statement they wish aired, well... they're our sites, we can do what we want!

~Michael Akerman
...look for a standard-style psychological, sociological, or political post from me soon...