The New York Times > International > International Special > Communications: Myths Run Wild in Blog Tsunami Debate
Well, there is some objective reporting and analysis in this piece, but there is an awful lot of nonsense you need to wade through first to find it. It is largely a collection of cheap shots about a new medium that few fully comprehend, and many (in the mainstream media) fear. But you take a look, and decide for yourselves.
Excerpts:
As the horror of the South Asian tsunami spread and people gathered online to discuss the disaster on sites known as Web logs, or blogs, those of a political bent naturally turned the discussion to their favorite topics.
To some in the blogosphere, it simply had to be the government's fault.
...
"Get out the tin foil hats," a contributor to the (conservative) blog (Wizbang) wrote.
...
In many ways, Web logs shone after the tsunami struck: bloggers in the regions posted compelling descriptions of the devastation, sometimes by text messages sent from their cellphones as they roamed the countryside looking for friends and family members...But the blogosphere's tendency toward crackpot theorizing and political smack down could not be suppressed for long.
In this context, weblogs appear to be extensions of the extreme red/blue ideological divide so illustrative of 21st century America. And the "mainstream" media--like the NY Times--gets to take the high ground of objectivity. Or so they wish to have us believe.
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