Aieee! The blogs are coming!

Much of the mainstream media's attitude toward weblogging has been schizophrenic: they sneer that bloggers are insignificant amateurs, while simulataneously warning that unethical, "unprofessional" bloggers have the power to destroy lives and reputations. (Just to cover all their bets, of course, the same MSM outlets have also created their own blogs, to get a piece of the action.)

Like newspapers in the late 19th century which warned against the "horseless carriage" menace, Forbes slanders bloggers as a "lynch mob" in its latest cover story. (Why, bloggers even made up blatantly fake documents in an attempt to bring down the President of the United States. Oh, wait...)

The contrast with, say, the Washington Post - which adds a Technocrati link to its online stories, so readers can see which bloggers are commenting on them - couldn't be more telling. That's why the Post, which seems to get this new medium, will likely still be around in 50 years. I'm not sure we can say the same for Forbes. (Too bad. Like many conservative and libertarian bloggers, I kind of liked Steve Forbes and his magazine up until now.)

Posted by damian at October 28, 2005 09:00 AM | TrackBack