Friday, September 08, 2006The Washington Post: Conscience of the Blogosphere?Calls from the Virginia Blogosphere for James Webb to fire Lowell Field? Say it ain't so. But that's precisely what you're hearing, and some Democrats are getting tired of the free-for-all mudslinging Jim Webb's netroots co-ordinator is marshalling. Alton over at I'm Not Emeril (of Martinsville fame) is posting his objections, while Chris Green is noting that not all are pleased with Lowell's performance, especially with the consistent and disgusting mangling of Allen campaign director "Dick (Wad)hams" name. UPDATE: Just in case you're wondering what kind of dirty-tricks we're talking about here, ask yourself what you would say if someone identified a counterprotest of a rally of ethnic minority groups as a -- and I kid you not -- a monkey fest? Who did this? None other than Democrat Webb booster Lowell Field. One can't help but notice that with the contraction of the Virginia Blogosphere as of late (Jaded JD being the most notable absence) and the proliferation of both new blogs and blogs-for-pay (we call them mercenaries, but "bloggers-of-fortune" might be a better term) that without a reading population trained to instantly question what they see on blogs without discrediting them all, someone has to play referee. Welcome Mike Shear. For those who will remember Shear's remarks at the 2006 Sorenson Blog Summit meeting, I drew a few conclusions, notable of which was the following: What I do find interesting about Sorenson: the tables are turning. No longer are bloggers the conscience of the MSM, but rather journalists are reminding bloggers of their responsibilities to the public square. Mike Shear, for all of his constructive criticism of blogs, is proving to be the Socratic gadfly we all need to hear.So what does this have to do with Lowell Field and his outrage? Everything. Mike Shear and the WaPo don't deserve to be placed on the spot, nor do they deserve to be forced into the position of refereeing the public square. Yet simultaneously, that's what good journalists and editors do in the end. Cut through the crap and get to the meat of what's going on. Lowell Field's tabloid blogging has no place in politics. Period. Virginia's Republican bloggers have started to beat the drum, but the experiment is yielding a he-said/she-said stalemate. Someone gets to blow the whistle, and while certain bloggers do have the reputation and the clout to call nonsense when it exhibits itself, few if any have the reputation of the Washington Post or Richmond Times-Dispatch. What was predicted in June -- the MSM watchdogging the blogs -- is slowly coming home to roost. Don't interpret this as a "put up or shut up" rant directed at anyone in the MSM. That certainly isn't my intent; not by a long shot. Rather, I'm doing two things: (1) reading the ethical tea leaves and (2) offering what I see as the outcropping of the proceedings of the 2006 Sorenson Blog Summit have offered. Mr. Shear just happens to be the one on the other side stretching his hand across the fence. That the offendee is a Democrat shouldn't scare anyone. In fact, I would wager that most Democrats highly disagree with many of the things Lowell Field and the lunatic fringe have done to their party, and most especially to their candidate. Unethical political bloggers are painting the rest of us into a corner (Republican and Democrat alike), and once where blogs kept the MSM in line, now the MSM has the golden opportunity to keep the public square in line and set the rules of fair play. That opportunity starts with exposing Lowell Field and Raising Kaine. UPDATE x2: Ben Tribbet over at Not Larry Sabato agrees: Lowell Field should be held accountable. Some other thoughts as to what paid staffers do to the credibility of the blogosphere as well in a pretty darned good post.
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JEFFERSONIAD POLL: Whom do you support for Virginia Attorney General?1) John Brownlee2) Ken Cuccinelli AboutShaunKenney.com is one of Virginia's oldest political blogs, focusing on the role of religion and politics in public life. Shaun Kenney, 30, lives in Fluvanna County, Virginia.ContactThe JeffersoniadArchivesMarch 2002 April 2002 May 2002 June 2002 July 2002 August 2002 September 2002 October 2002 November 2002 December 2002 January 2003 February 2003 March 2003 April 2003 May 2003 June 2003 July 2003 August 2003 September 2003 October 2003 November 2003 December 2003 January 2004 February 2004 March 2004 April 2004 May 2004 June 2004 July 2004 August 2004 September 2004 October 2004 November 2004 December 2004 January 2005 February 2005 June 2005 July 2005 August 2005 September 2005 October 2005 November 2005 December 2005 January 2006 February 2006 March 2006 April 2006 May 2006 June 2006 July 2006 August 2006 September 2006 October 2006 November 2006 December 2006 January 2007 February 2007 April 2007 June 2007 July 2007 August 2007 September 2007 October 2007 November 2007 December 2007 January 2008 February 2008 March 2008 April 2008 May 2008 June 2008 July 2008 August 2008 September 2008 October 2008 November 2008 December 2008 January 2009
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16 Comments:
Great post. I take a bit of a different route. Its not what Lowell says that is the problem. What is great about the blogosphere is that you can post in a stream of conscienceness style and its ok. The rules are relaxed, so to speak, and we all undersatnd it.
The problem is that he is PAID by the campaign. Its different when folks like me are getting emails from Jon Henke. He just throws stuff out there and we can do whatever we want. I'm not making one dime off of this. But when your a paid staffer, you represent the campaign all the time, and the candidate is responsible for what you say. If Lowell called Wadhams "Dick Wad(hams)" and he wasn't paid, I might chuckle or whatever. But when your a PAID staffer, its much much different. Know what I mean?
Hit men are hired for that purpose.
Add onto the pile though -- I don't think I would have so much of a problem with a paid staffer working the netroots if the conversation were respectful in tone. Certainly there are plenty of Virginia Democrats who blog (Vivian Paige, Waldo Jaquith are two that immediately come to mind) that would do a far better job at expositioning the Democratic candidate than Lowell Field's screeds have accomplished.
Lowell is just plain embarassing, not just for the Dems but for the blogosphere as a whole. But now I'm ranting... :)
No excuses, linguistic weaseling, shifting blame etc, or waiting two weeks to decide whether or not an apology is appropriate.
The relatively low-level Webb staffers can demonstrate to our junior Senator the appropriate way to deliver an apology when offense is taken.
I think you should amend your post to say "Coordinated calls from Republican bloggers and supporters of Allen to fire Lowell Feld"
I guess it's OK again to make fun of the names of campaign staffers, as well as the candidates, just so long as they are republicans.
As I said many times before, making fun of people's names is about the most childish acts one can make. This is why Allen had to apologize, it's why Webb should have apologized, it's why the Webb Campaign still looks like a bunch of children.
Co-ordinated calls VC? Wow -- I certainly haven't been on that memo, so that probably tells you that it's not so co-ordinated after all...
Lowell Field should be excoriated by every thinking blogger in Virginia.
At best, JTERP has the right idea: Lowell apologizes sincerely and we all move on.
However, none of this de-legitimizes what Lowell and other Democratic bloggers have to say about Allen, etc.
Also, y'all Republican bloggers need to watch for some pot & kettle comparisons here, because I could find NUMEROUS examples of complete and utter disrespect, unprofessionalism, and sheer nastiness in your ranks.
One other point: you reap what you sow. Ever since the GOP began injecting utter vitriol into mainstream politics in the late 70's, this is where we are. It escalated to unprecedented levels in the Clinton years, and y'all are in some ways reaping what was sown back then, now during the years of incompetence and disgrace of the Bush-era farces.
Oh yeah, and do you think we can expect the same high-mindedness from the likes of Galanti and Wadhams? I'm sure not holding my breath!
Certainly you're not suggesting that Lowell is justified because of the bad behavior of others? We're smarter than that (I hope) -- Lord knows I certainly don't teach my kids that.
You fail to mention that is was promoted by Josh, which put his seal of approval on it. And then Lowell adds a tasteless comment of his own in the comment section.
Pretty much placing James Webb's seal of approval on it as well, since he refuses to comment on their tactics.
What I would not do is pour fuel on the fire by suggesting that the ethnicities invited were Irish, German, white, Caucasian, etc.
Adding to the melee as Lowell has done goes far worse. Certainly he doesn't increase the level of discourse, and he's in a unique position to do so.
I appreciate the sensitivities towards diaries and such, but qui tacet consentiret -- silence grants consent.
So when you hear that DailyKos is the biggest "blog" in the internet, realise that it's mostly because it aggregates so many blogs under one roof.
Now, Raising Kaine has adopted the same style, with an obviously much much smaller set of diaries.
That said, Josh posted to their thread asking them to contact him officially, and Lowell also commented on the thread. Lowell's comments, if made by a republican, would have earned the ire of the mock whiners.
In addition, neither Lowell, nor Josh, nor for that matter other contributers, expressed the slightest doubts about the appropriateness of the thread.
It's hard for me to get too worked up about it, as I don't find ANY of this stuff on either side nearly as upsetting as the left seems to find things upsetting.
Very revealing is their reaction to the fictionalized documentary 9/11 on ABC. It shows you how biased to the left most TV shows are that the left is so outraged by this lack of perfection. We on the right put up with false information from TV shows and newscasts on a daily basis, it's just part of what you live with watching TV.
But the lies work for the left so often that a few errors in 9/11 has shocked, shocked them into taking official action by their highest elected officials to threaten a broadcast network with prior restraint and license revocation -- certainly an attempt at government censorship. At least in 2004 it was Kerry's campaign, and not the elected members of government, that sued to get a network not to run something damaging to him.
jeez...I can't believe we're having this discussion.
Look, let them say what they want to...people will see it for what it is.
If Lowell does poorly then he won't be hired again.....
You have a good point about those bloggers who constantly refer to George Allen as "Felix" and mangle Dick Wadhams' name. So, when are you going to also criticize BVBL for constantly referring to Jeanette Rishell as "Moonfruit" which is not just making fun of somebody's name but is truly insulting?
As for Michael Shear serving as the disinterested referee, that's laughable. Shear needs to pay attention to keeping his own reporting accurate before he serves as anybody's conscience. Likewise the whole Washington Post which sometimes gets it right but often doesn't.
The blogosphere is not made up of professional journalists who have an obligation to report facts accurately and in an unbiased way as a newspaper does.
Some bloggers would make excellent journalists. But a lot are frankly partisan. The blogosphere, like any truly public square, is often a free for all slugfest. For better or worse, what makes it interesting is that anybody can get a free blog and start posting.
No other blogger represents me. If some bloggers want to be over the top, become paid political consultants, or engage in hyperbole, that's their right. But they don't represent me. And if I say or do something stupid (and I know I do lots of times), they also shouldn't be tarred by the same feather for my posts. I don't represent them.
And certainly, no campaign should be held responsible for what bloggers post.
I realize that because Lowell is a paid consultant as well as a blogger his situation is a little different with respect to the Webb campaign. But I'm talking in general. George Allen shouldn't be held accountable for something an over the top blogger not in his employ says and neither should Jim Webb.
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