Attacking a blog
Posted by Peter W. Schramm
Sometimes the MSM angry get angry at bloggers. This guy, writing for a dead tree Minnesota publication--in not exactly lovely prose--screams at Powerline and can’t believe that they have become noticed and even famous. And the guys at Powerline
understand that rage must be withstood and lions make leopards tame. Bless Them!
11:07 AM / December 29, 2004
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I submitted a letter to the editor of Colemans newspaper. You can find the form for doing so by clicking on a link from this page.
The Star-Trib columnist Coleman (note, hes a columnist, not a poet - his prose is about on par w/ most NLT bloggers, frankly) didnt do any screaming.
Speaking of screaming...
So, Claremont gave a big award to Limbaugh the Bloviator, eh? Seriously, thats the BEST that the prestigious institution could come up with?!!??? Whos next - Ann Coulter??
So, is Times "Blog of the Year" award for Powerline yet ANOTHER exception to liberal-media bias?
And as far as blogs go, NoLeftTurns could really be improved by shedding that silly system where one has to click the "New Paragraph" button to start a new para.
I didnt get the same impression as you did when reading the article about the blog. Seems like journalism to me. He is revealing the people behind the blog. I think blogs are pretty much equal to partisan talk shows (left or right) and should not be mistaken for actual journalism.
As the Powerline folks themselves have shown, along with virtually everyone else in the blogosphere (O.K., Im exaggerating, just so those who are humor-impaired dont jump all over me), Coleman has gone off he deep end. He isnt engaging the arguments. Hes making factually untrue statements about Powerlines funding. And hes engaging in ad hominem attacks focusing on journalistically inappropriate portions of their respective anatomies.
Lets examine the arguments, not play games like this.
Joe K -
I admit, i had to read your comment several times and re-read the article by Mr. Coleman. His language is harsher than is probably needed. And, I will admit, I dont follow Powerline, so Im not sure what they have pointed out as to the inaccurate statements. Is it untrue that the men behind the Blog is who he says they are? Is it also untrue that they are affiliated with right-wing think-tanks? This is what I see as part of the problem. When think-tanks on either side combine with talk shows, magazines and blogs of the same spectrum, the independece of research and journalism is lost. It does come down to group think and repetition of talking points.
Nick,
Read what the Powerline folks have to say about their relationship with the Claremont Institute. I dont think theres any money involved. And even if there were money involved, it would be a pittance. And even if there were a pittance involved, what I know of the folks at Claremont (and the folks at Ashbrook, where Im an "adjunct fellow"), theres no demand that you toe a party line. Yes, were all conservatives of one stripe or another here at Ashbrook (other fellows can correct me if Im mistaken), but theres room for disagreement, and certainly no meetings to arrive at consensus nor any effort to impose it from on high.
Let me put it another way. The guys at Powerline have very well-paying day jobs, and could probably buy and sell either the Ashbrook Center or the Claremont Institute, if not both. Their affiliation with the latter is more a voluntary recognition on both sides that theres a good bit of serendipitous agreement than any sort of quid pro quo.
My own experience with these matters is that many folks, especially on the Left, assume that conservatives are bought and paid for by corporations and "right-wing" foundations. The people I know cant be bought and paid for. And the foundations arent interested in dictating the results of the research they fund.