|
|
|
 |
|
|
 RSS Feed
| › Most Recent Postings
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Original Post:
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Libby trial bloggers fall on their faces |
|
| Tue, March 06, 2007 |
|
So how did the infamous Libby trial bloggers do in breaking the news of today's verdict? I'm not talking about the silly one-upmanship that this Court TV producer showed. I'm looking for quick but meaningful insights -- the kind of reporting we expect from on-the-scene reporters who've had days to think about and report on the impending verdict, and the kind that's informed by real courthouse reporting -- observing reactions on the scene, getting comments from participants, and dipping into the reservoir of accumulated reported insights from the trial. Not just navel-gazing from home while surfing the Web and TV (that's my department!).
I'm looking ... and I'm not finding it. The Libby trial-blog feed from the Media Bloggers Association -- you know, the one that incessantly and falsely claimed that it was the first to put independent bloggers as credentialed reporters in a courtroom -- continued to provide a useful service in aggregating the various trial blogs. A lot of good it did, though, considering the amateurish mush that they produced in the first hour after the verdict.
Instead, it was old-fashioned, much-loathed MSM hacks who gave readers the first decent reports from the scene, and who offered the first cogent analyses. Stories like Amy Goldstein's and Carol Leonnig's in the Post, which at least didn't repeat the amateurs' mistake of taking the maximum penalty for each conviction and adding them up to equal Libby's maximum possible sentence (as if that were remotely plausible). And a host of straightforward dispatches like the Times' and AP's and CNN's and Time's and the LA Times'. It's not even clear that a single blogger from this highly touted cadre even bothered to hang around for the climactic moment. Why bother, when the boring old MSM reporters will do the work for you?
The MBA's Keystone Kops of course aren't the only bloggers interested in the case. Pajamas Media did a much better job than the MBA in collecting halfway interesting reactions. But at the crucial moment, when the MBA's team could have strutted its stuff, it stared at the TV and computer screen and grunted in dumb acknowledgement.
Feh.
Am I rushing to judgment? Let me know. I'll keep watching and maybe revisit this tomorrow.
|
|
Posted at 01:44 PM
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
There are 7 comments to this post:
|
|
|
|
|
|
| MarkObbie commented: |
|
| My point was about MBA |
|
|
Everything you say about past coverage of the trial is true, and I've written about it before. My point immediately after the verdict was this: How will the bloggers WHO THEMSELVES SET THE GOAL of covering the trial in a new way, from a new vantage point in the courtroom (and via the Media Bloggers Association site), perform when the verdict comes down? I linked to the site I talked about. And now that a day has past, I stand by my initial criticism, but I do note that Talk Left came back eventually with a couple of thoughtful, researched posts. The others might as well have been standing around the water cooler blabbing, for all the value they brought to the conversation.
|
|
|
Posted Wed, March 07, 2007 at 05:29 AM
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| ari commented: |
|
| As a journalist... |
|
|
As a journalist, you should learn something from bloggers and always link to examples.
Yes, it takes a few minutes longer, but it allows your reader to decide for themself if your argument stands up.
In your post, you said bloggers made mistakes, but didn't link to any.
You also ignored firedog lake which had the most coverage throughout the trial (including live blogging thoughout giving a detailed view of the trial which wouldn't have been possible from any other source) and did stay through the end (which would be easy to see if you just had looked at the site before posting).
http://www.firedoglake.com/category/cia-leak-case/
And bloggers aren't just reporting on blogs.
Jeralyn Merritt of talkleft.com took part in a discussion on the Washington Post's website
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/
discussion/2007/03/06/DI2007030600559.html
And bloggers are doing other interviews.
|
|
|
Posted Tue, March 06, 2007 at 08:18 PM
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| MarkObbie commented: |
|
| Whatever |
|
|
I'm a journalist. I couldn't care less about your agenda. I'm critiquing the quality of information. I don't know Pajamas from the man on the moon. I saw some intelligent posts over the weeks by your Firedog buddy. Whatever. I'm trying to say here, folks, that the blogger community -- that portion of it that laid claim to COVERING this trial by having access to the court -- is a joke. And if you think ideological rants suffice to inform the public, then good luck to you.
|
|
|
Posted Tue, March 06, 2007 at 07:36 PM
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| David Ehrenstein commented: |
|
| Irving Aftermath |
|
|
It's fairly obvious to anyone who has been following this case even so much as casually that FireDogLake has OWNED it from Day One.
Yet for some reason your standard is "Pajamas Media" -- home of Dubbya Defenders, Iraq Attack supporters and friends of Boris and Natasha (right-wing water carriers Joseph DiGenova and Victoria Toensing.)
Wake up. "Scooter's" down. "Shooter's" next.
|
|
|
Posted Tue, March 06, 2007 at 06:52 PM
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| MarkObbie commented: |
|
| Examples? |
|
|
Fair point about linking to examples. My point, though, is that on the MBA aggregator site (to which I linked), there was not a single example of any substance at all: reporting, analysis, smart commentary. Nada. Now, six hours later, there's one that has some substance and thought: http://www.roryoconnor.org/blog/?p=236
And, while I agree Pajamas and MBA serve very different functions, MBA bragged endlessly about the crack team of credentialed trial bloggers it assembled. They're MIA when the story comes to a high point.
|
|
|
Posted Tue, March 06, 2007 at 06:13 PM
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| ari commented: |
|
| er link |
|
|
That should be link, not kink.
Also, I don't think it is right to compare a loose group of bloggers like MBA to a roundup post on Pajamas Media.
And PM needs a copy editor (so do I, but it was just a comment and it would be nice if you had a preview button).
"Tom Maguire announces he’ll be responding them."
|
|
|
Posted Tue, March 06, 2007 at 05:50 PM
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| ari commented: |
|
| Some umm, links please |
|
|
It is hard to tell if you are rushing when you don't kink to any examples of what you thought was bad reporting.
|
|
|
Posted Tue, March 06, 2007 at 05:46 PM
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
