Pirate's Cove

Anyone else starting to think that bloggers are scaring the MSM’s? Sure, what we do is important, and it deserves to be talked about, especially those like Powerlineblog, the Captains Quarters, Little Green Footballs, etc (no offense to anyone else, just 3 that I pulled out of the hat quickly). CNN discusses this in an article entitled "How Do Bloggers Impact Political News?"

Ana Marie Cox (Wonkette, of course) and others who maintain "blogs" were criticized after the November 2 presidential election for posting exit polls throughout the day — a practice frowned upon in the mainstream media because the data could sway the outcome.

"To the extent to which they affect voter turnout is to the extent people believe them," Cox told the Online News Association conference in Hollywood. She added that blogs have made it more difficult for mainstream news organizations "to sit on a story."

I personally do not think that what we did affect turnout, so much as belief. Did we change anyones mind on who to vote for? Probably. How many? Unknown. Certainly getting the word out on stories such as the Swift Boat Vets for Truth and the fake cBS documents (among others) made a difference in people not switching from voting for W. We surely changed no ones minds on the other side of the aisle. Maybe we affected some of the swing voters minds. Those are the ones that I feel that we should be aiming for. I used to be one of those swing voters, as I have mentioned many a time, at least when it comes to electing a President (probably won’t be anytime soon, the way the Dems have been going). I hope I swayed a few folks’ minds to vote W.

"Things get picked up by bloggers that take awhile to get picked up by the mainstream media," said Mark Glaser, a columnist for the Online Journalism Review who writes about Web logs. "Bloggers have to start from scratch in building trust."

Me, I am not looking to be a journalist. I am just a guy who enjoys putting his thoughts down on "paper." I like blogging about politics, world affairs, tech stuff, posting jokes and stories of interest. I never thought about building trust. If I write what I think and feel in an honest way, am I building trust? Perhaps. If I make shit up and post it as other then "humor" or "pyratical silliness", am I building trust? No. I believe we in the bloggosphere build trust with each other by being honest to ourselves. I do not post things that I do not care about. Nor will I post an article that I have to spin in a way that I do not believe, just to get recognized or linked. Maties, I could keep going and going (and I tend to ramble on alot), but I think you get the picture.

Here is the cou de gras:

Mindy McAdams, a University of Florida journalism professor, applauded bloggers’ efforts but urged them to adhere to ethical standards held by mainstream journalists.

"Our credibility is suffering with so many people rushing to publish things without checking them out," McAdams said after Cox’s speech. "Blogging is really great. I like that more and more people have a voice. That’s good … But it doesn’t give people who call themselves journalists an excuse to not check out the information."

Takes a while to stop laughing after that. I’ll wait………… You done?…….Here is a tissue, and I bet your abs got a good workout. The MSM’s have ignored stories, made stories up, made a big deal out of stories that weren’t, and spun like a top to get Kerry elected. That is not ethical. I make no pretense about spinning some stories. But, then again, I am not an MSM, with millions of daily readers/viewers. I do not plan to be an MSM, or work for one. But, if I can make one person a day go "hmmmmm," then my job is done.