We have a genuine, honest to goodness blizzard blowing in today. Nothing better than to sit at my computer, looking out the window at those poor souls having to unbury their cars.
Year: 2007
Categories
Cue the public
From Seth today:
I am not making up this headline: Tonight at 11, news by neighbors – Santa Rosa TV station fires news staff, to ask local folks to provide programming
“I have my own silly little term,” Spendlove said. “Local content harvesting.”
A true moment not to be in the process of hydration, for fear of ruining a keyboard.
We only have to look at Tailrank to see how biased our coverage of any one topic is: not to mention how poorly local events are covered. I know of only two weblogs that write on the issues with Nixon, Blunt, Ameren, and the DNR here in Missouri and that’s me and Black River News and I’m dependent on Black River News and regular news outlets for most of what I write. Black River News provides much of the local commentary and color, but we’re both dependent on news organizations to get the interviews, to hunt down the details. It is precisely these ‘smaller’ stories that we’re dependent on professional news organizations to cover, and it is these smaller stories that webloggers don’t tend to get interested in because there’s a lack of immediate sensationalism to many of the topics.
Then there’s the practical side to journalism: I can’t request an interview with Nixon, but the journalists at St. Louis Today can.
As for putting us to work so that stations and newspapers don’t have to pay for the professionals, I don’t feel like going down to Wal-Mart to fill in when Betty or Joe is fired, so why should I feel privileged to replace Betty or Joe at St. Louis Today? That’s the way to think of this: not as a ‘chance’ to get our 15 minutes, or a way of validating worth for people who are never satisfied; but how we’re being used to increase corporate profits while more workers are displaced. Working for virtual tips.
A hybrid solution has always seemed to me the way to go: provide an outlet for the locals, but keep the professionals working. That’s what we have: we have weblogs and newspapers; we have comment forums and TV or radio. We have cellphone pictures mixed in with photo journalism that changes the world.
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Blizzard 2.0
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Bloggers resign from campaign
Both Shakespeare’s Sister Melissa and Pandagon’s Amanda have resigned from the Edwards compaign. Amanda’s site is down, but at Shakepeare’s Sister, Melissa had this to say:
I regret to say that I have also resigned from the Edwards campaign. In spite of what was widely reported, I was not hired as a blogger, but a part-time technical advisor, which is the role I am vacating.
I would like to make very clear that the campaign did not push me out, nor was my resignation the back-end of some arrangement made last week. This was a decision I made, with the campaign’s reluctant support, because my remaining the focus of sustained ideological attacks was inevitably making me a liability to the campaign, and making me increasingly uncomfortable with my and my family’s level of exposure.
I understand that there will be progressive bloggers who feel I am making the wrong decision, and I offer my sincerest apologies to them. One of the hardest parts of this decision was feeling as though I’m letting down my peers, who have been so supportive.
There will be some who clamor to claim victory for my resignation, but I caution them that in doing so, they are tacitly accepting responsibility for those who have deluged my blog and my inbox with vitriol and veiled threats. It is not right-wing bloggers, nor people like Bill Donohue or Bill O’Reilly, who prompted nor deserve credit for my resignation, no matter how much they want it, but individuals who used public criticisms of me as an excuse to unleash frightening ugliness, the likes of which anyone with a modicum of respect for responsible discourse would denounce without hesitation.
This is a win for no one.
(Also see this ABC Story for more)
I don’t think any supporter of both would be disappointed, and I admire both of them for taking this stand. They would never be able to speak freely as part of Edwards’ campaign, but now they can use their voices and their popular blogs however they see fit, and no one can shut them up now.
As for this quack Donohue or that tedious and dull Malkin claiming victory, small minds must get gratification where they can. Frankly, the rest of the country could care less what these two carp in a small pond think.
My only concern is if Amanda and Melissa are going to suffer some financial repercussions from this event. If so, I imagine many of us would be willing to donate a few bucks to help them get settled back home.
Amanda’s announcement.
Categories
Sleight of hand
It would seem that the US isn’t the only country whose primary leader plays sleight of hand when it comes to debate: Australia’s Howard is using Obama’s candidate announcement speech to deflect discussion away from climate change to the Iraqi conflict.
If I were the people of Australia, I would balance 1400 soldiers in Iraq against the fact that it is completely surrounded by water when making a decision about what is of most critical importance to the people of that country. Unless Howard would prefer that Iraq remain a lightning rod for Islamic discontent, rather than have such shift focus to, say, Indonesia.
This kind of political rhetoric isn’t surprising: it seems to be representative of anyone associated with Bush. What is surprising, though, is how anyone can possibly think there is any question of ‘win’ or ‘loose’ regarding Iraq. Frankly, I would question the intelligence of any person who uses such terms in regards to this conflict. But, we have enough problems with our own fearless leader, who now seems to want to make bad matters worse by trying to trigger a war with Iran. Howard is Australia’s concern, not ours.