The story of Susan J. Demas

Inquiring minds (and bloggers) would like to know.... (4.00 / 1)

Exactly how many interviews did the esteemed Ms. Demas conduct  for this hard-hitting piece of journalism? :-)

I want to change the world, not help people adjust to it. - Millie Jeffrey, MI - National Women's labor and Democratic activist, Presidential Medal of Freedom Recipient

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by: LiberalLucy @ Thu Oct 25, 2007 at 16:44:33 PM CDT

Lessenberry in the bathroom (4.00 / 5)

Excellent catch with the Leftyblogs feed and Jack's duplicitous stand on blogs, Eric. Also...note the url for Jack Lessenberry's Essays and Interviews: jackshow.blogs.com.Et tu, Jack-o?

I love a lot of what Jack writes, but some times he's just completely full of shit. This is one of those times. By making this broad brush argument categorizing all blogs as graffiti, Jack and Susan commit the exact same sin that bloggers often do in lumping all "mainstream media" together. Sure...many blogs are nothing more than writing on a bathroom wall. But guess what, Jack? There are a hell of a lot of so-called respectable newspapers and news organizations that could just as easily be described in the same way.

Jack and Susan know better. Just as there are good newspapers, there are also bad newspapers. Just as there are good local TV news operations (I know they exist somewhere...), the are also plenty of BAD TV news outlets who regularly air fake news (a.k.a. "video news releases") that are paid for and produced by drug companies and other corporations. And just as there are plenty of bad blogs, there are also plenty of good ones...for instance the site you mentioned or the blog maintained by U of M prof. Juan Cole for deep and thoughtful discussion about the Middle East.

You can bitch about blogs if you want to, Jack and Susan. However, the truth is if your industry (to use the old broad brush again) wasn't doing such a piss poor job of serving the public and constantly dumbing down the news in the relentless pursuit of a quick buck, maybe partisan blogs wouldn't be attracting such a huge following (a point acknowledged by Susan in her now infamous column).

"HAZEN S. PINGREE...He was the first to warn the people of the great danger threatened by powerful private corporations, and the first to awake to the great inequalities in taxation and to initiate steps for reforms. THE IDOL OF THE PEOPLE"

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by: Hazen Pingree @ Thu Oct 25, 2007 at 20:26:56 PM CDT

i get a lot more wisdom off bathroom walls (4.00 / 4)

than i do from the newspapers the litter their floors.

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by: Jon K @ Thu Oct 25, 2007 at 23:44:02 PM CDT

"Thank you Bob Dylan!" (0.00 / 0)

  :D

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by: David Boyle @ Fri Oct 26, 2007 at 00:22:20 AM CDT

[ Parent ]

Dates too! (0.00 / 0)

It's better than Craig's List!

Pray for the dead, fight like hell for the living. - Mother Jones

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by: chanupi @ Fri Oct 26, 2007 at 08:42:11 AM CDT

[ Parent ]

i guess im not quite done (4.00 / 2)

demas' "viewpoint" really made no sense.  Here's my summary of here arguments:

1)  All blogs are rubbish

2)  Blogs/activism in general are really good if you don't want to think anymore

3)  We don't need blogs because we can read the "real" news, the stuff that's unfiltered by those reporters and the "unbiased" editors and publishers that decide what gets printed.

I suppose Susan had a point, although she failed to make it.  What she meant to say is that since not every single blog (although there are those that do) presents a balanced viewpoint, if a reader only reads one blog, it's fairly easy to get an unbalanced view (especially if it is written by a single individual).  Now here's a shocker....

Nobody does that.

In fact, even if people did, there are even these things on many blogs called comments (take Juan Cole's blog for example).  When somebody writes something stupid (happens a lot), others can let them (and everybody else) know about it.  You can see various viewpoints for various people that have (generally) clear agendas.

What newspapers and TV show are exactly what a single person (or a hidden mash of people) want their viewers to see, generally based on maximizing their profit, but who really knows?.  Nobody knows why papers take the angel they do because nobody knows every bias of every decision maker involved in a story.  That seems pretty stupid. 

Anyhow, I'll take my news from sources that allow me to see their perspective.  For example, when philgoblue writes something about the pres primary, I know he's an Edwards supporter.  It doesn't mean I accept it blindly or I dismiss it out of hand.  I just know his perspective.  That's nice.

And that's why people like blogs.

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by: Jon K @ Fri Oct 26, 2007 at 00:27:48 AM CDT

And there's the rub... (0.00 / 0)

When somebody writes something stupid (happens a lot), others can let them (and everybody else) know about it.  You can see various viewpoints for various people that have (generally) clear agendas.

That is what happens to them and they don't know how to handle it.

They want to control what is and isn't unimportant and don't want to be analyzed by the great unwashed...

In other words, her entire piece was nothing more than STFU and let the pros handle it.

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by: Nazgul35 @ Fri Oct 26, 2007 at 10:59:21 AM CDT

[ Parent ]

Methinks the doth protest too much! (0.00 / 0)

For all the bluster about how unimportant blogs are, they traditional media sure do seem to have a preoccupation with us.

I'm sure it's not based on anything at all...like fear maybe?

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by: Nazgul35 @ Fri Oct 26, 2007 at 10:56:29 AM CDT

Inferiority Complex (0.00 / 0)

Seems to me many bloggers have an inferiority complex. To me, who cares what the MSM thinks. They are increasingly irrelevant. 

"Win if you can, lose is you must, but ALWAYS cheat!" -- Jesse Ventura

"Whether you like it or not, learn to love it, because its the best thing going. Wooooo!" -- Ric Flair

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by: Black Earl @ Fri Oct 26, 2007 at 11:14:40 AM CDT