I think that the blogosphere has officially jumped the shark.
I'm just grossed out by how frenzied everyone is over the "Jeff Gannon" and Eason Jordan brouhahas. In Gannon's case, that's taken the form of (as a colleague put it) metaphorically parading the head of vanquished rival around the village. And Jordan's case is almost worse; the guy apparently said something pretty dumb, and then quickly walked it back. Heck, we still don't know exactly what he said (and given that Jordan is pleading "context," that strikes me as pretty critical). When the Wall Street Journal op-ed page, which is about as bloodthirsty as they come, thinks you don't deserve to get canned, you probably don't deserve it.
Apparently, what the blogsophere does best (and is proudest of) these days is taking scalps -- Trent Lott, Dan Rather, the reporter formerly known as Jeff Gannon, and now Eason Jordan. And that, to my mind, isn't productive or useful. It's just vengeful.
Blogs are, increasingly, no better than the worst partisan pundits. I'm all for holding journalists accountable. But instead of a collective conversation elevating the discourse about journalism, blogs have become a vehicle for taking cheap shots and conducting personal attacks, justified by thiny disguised partisanship. It's no better than the media bias folks, who are little more than glorified bullies trying to intimidate reporters into cutting their guy a break.
In some ways, of course, blogs have always been this way -- but on balance, I tended to think they were a force for good. No longer.
Posted by bkeefer at February 15, 2005 08:48 PM