24 Dec 2006
The Blog Mob

Hmmm...

"Written by fools to be read by imbeciles."

"...like remora fish on the bellies of sharks, picking at the scraps."

Somehow, I don't think this editor at the Wall Street Journal likes the idea of blogging very much. We're just not "professional" enough for him. I suppose he believes that we of the unwashed masses should leave the punditry of politics to our betters, and simply parrot what we're told, lest we poison democracy itself.

Methinks these folks need to remember that the Hoi polloi are their readers, their customers and, in the final analysis, their power. We are not simply statistics to be flown over and ignored except on Election Day - we are perfectly capable of forming opinions of our own, even nuanced opinions. And now, we are perfectly capable of letting the world in on our little secrets.

Are some of us fools? No doubt. Do imbeciles read our pontifications? Yep. But I feel compelled to point out that the same could be said of the mainstream media in general, and the Wall Street Journal in particular.

Because nowadays, there are lot's of other fools with cyber pens in hand to call them to task.

Blogs are very important these days. Even Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has one. The invention of the Web log, we are told, is as transformative as Gutenberg's press, and has shoved journalism into a reformation, perhaps a revolution.

(link) [Opinion Journal]

03:10 /Politics | 3 comments | permanent link