Why We Don't Blog About Politics
At first glance, we thought this Beldar post on John Kerry's legal career must be some kind of parody. After all of the recent press hype about how political bloggers are changing the face of American democracy -- hype too often echoed with an air of unseemly self-congratulation in the blogosphere itself -- it would be a welcome respite to see bloggers show some capacity for self-deprecatory humor. Yes, maybe this really is the medium that will finally bring the corporate media monopoly to its knees and restore an actual voice to upper-middle-class, computer-owning, electricity-bill-paying citizens. On the other hand, maybe there are only about fourteen minutes of blogging left before it goes the way of ham radio, in which case the best we could do would be to be remembered, by a few, for our grace, wit, and charm.
Alas, it emerges, on careful reading, that Beldar is not in fact poking gentle fun at bloggers grown so full of themselves as to confuse their own febrile polemic with investigative journalism. He appears to be perfectly serious, and his apparent ambition is to inject a whole new theme into the news cycle. For all we know, the press will oblige, in which case we can look forward to weeks of news stories about why John Kerry studied law at Boston College rather than Harvard, and what grades he received in his law school courses, and whether we really want a president who won honors in moot court, rather than on law review. Oh, and expect to hear that it would be a crime for Kerry to practice law right now. His license is on inactive status, you see, and Massachusetts would treat him as committing unauthorized practice unless he restored it.
Let those who disparage weblogs take note: If this all becomes the topic of wall-to-wall commentary on the Fox News Channel, you'll have a blogger to thank.
We're off to take a shower.
Alas, it emerges, on careful reading, that Beldar is not in fact poking gentle fun at bloggers grown so full of themselves as to confuse their own febrile polemic with investigative journalism. He appears to be perfectly serious, and his apparent ambition is to inject a whole new theme into the news cycle. For all we know, the press will oblige, in which case we can look forward to weeks of news stories about why John Kerry studied law at Boston College rather than Harvard, and what grades he received in his law school courses, and whether we really want a president who won honors in moot court, rather than on law review. Oh, and expect to hear that it would be a crime for Kerry to practice law right now. His license is on inactive status, you see, and Massachusetts would treat him as committing unauthorized practice unless he restored it.
Let those who disparage weblogs take note: If this all becomes the topic of wall-to-wall commentary on the Fox News Channel, you'll have a blogger to thank.
We're off to take a shower.
2 Comments:
Major party candidates have been put in stirrups before the public for several election cycles now. I don't understand why it is any more or less objectionable if done by 60 Minutes, The New York Times, or a blogger with an obvious bias.
What Beldar is doibg is silly, but certainly not exceptional.
Granted that Beldar's piece would be equally silly and objectionable if it ran as a segment on Nightline in the first instance. But I don't think it ever would. I think that if even the Fox News Channel ever picks it up, it will be because Beldar has clawed his way into the media food chain.
The conventional weblog wisdom has been that it's a good thing, and improves journalism, when blogs begin to feed mainstream reportage. That may be true, but it all depends on the ability of mainstream journalists to sort the wheat from the chaff. To me, this one is decidedly chaff. We'll see if the mainstream press agrees.
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