The New York Times writes today about Hillary Clinton apparently developing a decent working relationship with Matt Drudge, the conservative blogger who pursued the Lewinsky scandal so vigorously and who is notorious for publishing without fact checking.
But it's not Clinton who interests me in this story. It's the Times' reference to reporters and editors tuning in and following stories posted by Drudge. The lefty blogs all complain about this--usually then complaining about the mainstream media as lazy, stupid, etc., -- so it's curious that the Times would, in effect, confirm it.
Aides in both parties acknowledge working harder than ever to get favorable coverage for their candidates — or unfavorable coverage of competitors — onto the Drudge Report’s home page, knowing that television producers, radio talk show hosts and newspaper reporters view it as a bulletin board for the latest news and gossip.
There are a number of bloggers who routinely uncover stories worth national attention. I've listed them on my blogroll at Words at Work. Yes, it might take a little more work to tune in to multiple blogs but it's worth it to not rely on a guy with a political agenda and a history of sloppy reporting. It's not that a blog having an agenda is wrong; it's that the blog reports gossip as fact and others rely on it so much.
So widen your sources, reporters. Stop leaning on one weird guy.
No comments:
Post a Comment