Why bloggers enrage journalists

Excerpt:

All of these arguments about the need for reporters to report facts are dishonest. No one challenges this notion. No individual blogger could conceivably devote enough hours of his spare time (or his blogging time, if he does this full-time) to develop, confirm, and write a true bit of first-hand journalism once a week or so.

And the MSM knows that. They know their job on that score is secure -- simply because no one but a salaried reporter could put in forty hours a week working on a single story. (Especially because 99% of stories are not terribly important or remarkable, but still need to be reported -- but obviously no blogger could write up the Kalamazoo Crime Blotter three times a week and expect to be read by more than three thousand people as an absolute ceiling.)

What they are worried about is the decline in their influence as to matters not directly related to data-collection and not even remotely related to reportage. They're worried that they're losing their ability to shape (and mislead) public opinion in ways they find best for the public good. These people did not get into journalism, after all, to report on 3M's quarterly earnings advisory. They got into journalism to change things.

And they're desperately scrabbling to hold on tight to that bit of undeserved, undue influence by leveraging their entirely-unrelated qualifications to collect and disseminate raw information into a role they actually desire and feel they are worthy of-- a certified, credentialed priesthood of general wisdom, weighing in expertly on matters of politics, scientific and technological ethical dilemmas, foreign policy and of course military strategy, etc.

Source

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Brookes News Update

Blame central banks for sinking share markets: What a bizarre monetary spectacle. With one hand central banks raise interest rates to curb credit expansion while using the other hand to inject liquidity (credit) into the economy to prevent a recession that they think is caused by rising interest rates. Talk about economic schizophrenia
It's not the housing market that threatens the US economy: The recent financial turmoil had analysts and investors sweating bullets. What is being ignored is that the central banks that are seen to be salvaging the situation are the ones that caused it, particularly the fed. The US manufacturing index reveals that there could still be a lot of steam left in the current boom, assuming the fed allows the monetary expansion to continue
Stock market, interest rates and the business cycle: The turbulence in America's subprime market is being blamed for the current international financial crises, proving once again that our economic commentators are largely clueless on such matters
Is Russia's Power on the Decline?: Russia's power and influence are waning. If it were not for oil revenues and an unattentive Western media this would be reported, along with speculation about how long the thuggish Putin can hold on to power
Standing up to Islamic terrorism: Organizations that apologize for Islamic terrorists on a regular basis, such as the Council on American-Islamic Relations, are engaging in character assassination when they equate honest criticism of Islamic extremism with anti-Muslim or anti-Arab prejudice
Muslim terrorists chiefs have been igniting their followers by the word 'Jihad' - Holy War: Even the leaders of some Muslim countries are not able to resist temptation. Their true intent is a war against everything that is un-Islamic - that includes the West.
Monetarism and the US economy: Economic commentators are badly misreading economic history in comparing America's monetary policy with that of Japan's. Unfortunately for the rest of the world, the Fed has swallowed the myth that money supply cannot be controlled and that there is no link between inflation and artificially low interest rates

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ELSEWHERE



According to Vanderleun, the individual above is female.

Brussels: Anti-American demonstration OK, anti-Sharia demonstration banned.

Norwegian woodenheads: "Norway had a unique way of handling crime. Criminals were tried, convicted and sentenced just like anywhere else. But then it was left up to the convict to decide if he would actually serve his sentence. And of course, this does not work. Small wonder that Norway's reported crime rate is double that of the United States. Police in Oslo are overwhelmed by crime. And a Norwegian newspaper reported that 70% of "Norwegians have no faith that they'll get any help if someone breaks into their home." The problem is that until recently, there was no law that required a criminal to report to prison to fulfill his sentencing."

UK TV provides a forum for Islamic supremacism and the delegitimization of Christianity: "There was no manger, Christ is not the Messiah, and the crucifixion never happened. A forthcoming ITV documentary will portray Jesus as Muslims see him. With the Koran as a main source and drawing on interviews with scholars and historians, the Muslim Jesus explores how Islam honours Christ as a prophet but not as the son of God. According to the Koran the crucifixion was a divine illusion. Instead of dying on the cross, Jesus was rescued by angels and raised to heaven... However, Patrick Sookhdeo, an Anglican canon and spokesman for the Barnabas Fund, which works with persecuted Christians, accused broadcasters of double standards. Mr Sookhdeo, who was born a Muslim and converted to Christianity in 1969, said: "How would the Muslim community respond if ITV made a programme challenging Muhammad as the last prophet?"

Black South Africa: "Thabo Mbeki's presidency faced a crisis yesterday after sensational claims that his controversial Health Minister was an alcoholic who jumped the queue to receive a new liver. The allegations about Manto Tshabalala-Msimang came as Mr Mbeki was already facing growing criticism for standing by the minister, who believes that a diet of olive oil, beetroot and garlic is the best way to combat South Africa's Aids pandemic. The claims were made across three pages of the Sunday Times, the country's biggest-selling weekend newspaper. They included allegations that the minister, while in exile in neighbouring Botswana in the 1970s, was convicted of stealing jewellery, hats and handbags from hospital patients."

For more postings from me, see TONGUE-TIED, EDUCATION WATCH INTERNATIONAL, GREENIE WATCH, POLITICAL CORRECTNESS WATCH, GUN WATCH, SOCIALIZED MEDICINE, FOOD & HEALTH SKEPTIC, AUSTRALIAN POLITICS, IMMIGRATION WATCH INTERNATIONAL and EYE ON BRITAIN.

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"Why should the German be interested in the liberation of the Jew, if the Jew is not interested in the liberation of the German?... We recognize in Judaism, therefore, a general anti-social element of the present time... In the final analysis, the emancipation of the Jews is the emancipation of mankind from Judaism.... Indeed, in North America, the practical domination of Judaism over the Christian world has achieved as its unambiguous and normal expression that the preaching of the Gospel itself and the Christian ministry have become articles of trade... Money is the jealous god of Israel, in face of which no other god may exist". Who said that? Hitler? No. It was Karl Marx. See also here and here and here.

The Big Lie of the late 20th century was that Nazism was Rightist. It was in fact typical of the Leftism of its day. It was only to the Right of Stalin's Communism. The very word "Nazi" is a German abbreviation for "National Socialist" (Nationalsozialistisch) and the full name of Hitler's political party (translated) was "The National Socialist German Workers' Party".

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