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The 'We-dia' is Coming

By Jeralyn, Section Blog Related
Posted on Tue May 31, 2005 at 08:55:29 AM EST
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Law Professor Glenn Reynolds, aka Instapundit, has an article in today's Wall Street Journal (available free here) on the emerging Citizen's Media. His premise:

The news business is in trouble. Readership and viewership are declining, public trust is plummeting, and advertisers are beginning to wonder whether they're getting their money's worth.

Pajamas Media is coming and Blogads is here to stay. Reynolds says that even if traditional newspapers can't keep up, the 'we-dia' benefits them.

Because with mainstream media losing credibility through scandals like Easongate, Rathergate, and Newsweek's latest, free-press protections are likely to come under fire. The best defense will be a public that sees free speech as something it participates in, not just a protection for big corporate entities. What some are calling "we-dia" may wind up saving the media.

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    The 'We-dia' is Coming | 7 comments (7 topical)
    Re: The 'We-dia' is Coming (none / 0) (#6)
    by jimcee on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 12:59:29 PM EST
    The Instaprof has it about right IMHO. I have generally given up most print and TV media in the last two years and have found internet outlets to be the most diverse. I prefer sites that challenge my beliefs such as this one but I appreciate the instant links that allow me to make my own judgements on the stories. The MSM has destroyed its own credibility with malfeasance and its own self-denial of public opinion. A media that creates opinion polls to drive its uncouncious agendas while it neglects real news stories. A media that this morning had a report on who would win an election between Mrs Clinton and Mrs Bush...sheesh. Blogs rule and links are the best and those who make linking difficult such as NYT and the WSJ are just hurting themselves. Instant news and instant criticism...Sounds good to me.

    Re: The 'We-dia' is Coming (none / 0) (#7)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 12:59:29 PM EST
    Tampa, first thing you do is teach your kids that the English words "left" and "right" are fake terms invented to cover over the struggle between racists and non-racists, between warmakers and peacemakers, and between honest, scientific briefings on our actual environmental reality, versus medievalist aristocrats and fake cult churches. Fake terms. The real fight is obvious, and the Dem party has the only people IN the fight that I care about. The only R I feel the slightest sympathy for is John McCain, and that's because he paid more than the entire rightwing for his honor. He has a lot farther up to fall from. Nothing in this universe will give you more than a nickle for Frist's soul. It's toxic waste, soon coming to the defunct airbase near you. Where under R policies, some kids' dad is going to exchange working for a military base he is proud of, to working in a toxic waste dump, trying to keep his family from getting exposed. You blur the line by dividing it where they tell you to. I support Boxer, Pelosi, Conyers, Waxman, and a lot of other really great people who don't want that vision of America, whatever it's called.

    Re: The 'We-dia' is Coming (none / 0) (#1)
    by Mreddieb on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 12:59:30 PM EST
    Are you, talk left and I part of the wedia? does this mean we will all be only getting the news we ONLY want to hear? How will Special interest Wedia affect the political polarization we already face? I only read Librul stuff, am I to consider myself WELL informed?

    Re: The 'We-dia' is Coming (none / 0) (#2)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 12:59:30 PM EST
    The news that I only want to hear is the news that constitutes the truth of matters. The news that MSM only wants us to hear is hardly truth, and is more than likely government issued propaganda. MSNBC is a prime example. Chris Matthews 'Hardball' is exceedingly difficult to watch. Fact of the matter is, I don't. I try to watch these news programs, but are impossible. A few minutes of the tripe that is offered and I change the channel. Take me back to the days of CNBC when it was good. Gerry Spence had a good program. The cable news networks have sold out and I'm not watching. The news is out there, but not on television anymore. Scott Peterson and Michael Jackson ad nauseum is too much. There must be something other than what is offered by Fix, CNN (Certainly Not News) et al.

    Re: The 'We-dia' is Coming (none / 0) (#3)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 12:59:31 PM EST
    "Because with mainstream media losing credibility through scandals like Easongate, Rathergate, and Newsweek's latest" Oh, and then there's the Total LIES Leading to WAR scandal, that found its niche on page Zero. And the 9iL Coverup scandal, the Failure to Protect America NORAD scandal, the George Bush is a Stinking Serial Liar scandal, the USPNAC In Your Face With the Facts (US corp-media: "USPNAC? What does that have to do with Britney Spears' hot pants?) scandal, the total collapse of legal voting in America scandal, and, oh, the Destruction of 30 Years of Environmental Court Cases Won in a single penstroke scandal, and the Sending Anthrax to Political Opponents scandal, the Bush Lied to NYC About the Danger of Toxic 9iL Dust scandal, the near-nuclear disaster in 2001 by Bush-backer FirstEnergy Scandal (and their followup East Coast Grid Blackout scandal), the Scandal of not Armoring our troops, the scandal of no-bid contracts for Cheney's friends, the Haitian Coup d'tat by the US and Bush-backer Mercenaries Blackwater scandal, Custer-Battles Bags of Loot scandal... and about 20,000 other scandals there isn't room to print in this tiny but powerful blog comment square. All of which were covered on Page Zero. So, thanks, Glenn, for your idiotic concept of why people no longer read the newspapers or watch tv news. Maybe they got tired of BEING LIED TO IN THEIR FACES. Page Zero doesn't cost anything to print, so how do they justify charging for it? And why should anyone have to watch commercials so they can see some poor fool try to evade the police? Unless it's George Bush, don't bother me.

    Re: The 'We-dia' is Coming (none / 0) (#4)
    by ppjakajim on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 12:59:31 PM EST
    dronchee - "Hardball" is not a news program. Neither is O'Reilly, Larry King, Limbaugh, Glen Beck, Hannity or anything on Air America. Neither was Spence, or Crossfire. These were/are opinion programs. Some feature two sets of permanent "guests" screaming at and talking over each other and the guest of the day. Some, like Mathews, just scream and talk over. Some like Limbaugh don't have guests, and some, like King, specialize in the softball question to allow the guest to make whatever point he wants. So, if you want the news, my advice is to watch the actual news programs on CBS and/or ABC, NBC, FNC, MSNBC, CNBC, PBS, and listen to the BBC and NPR. You can then read some Left and Right blogs who will help filter out the BS from both sides.

    Re: The 'We-dia' is Coming (none / 0) (#5)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 12:59:31 PM EST
    Follow the money, discover the sources. Consolidated media ownership and Corporatist agendas aren't limited to news broadcasting. It reaches every corner of the American entertainment spectrum. You cannot pay for any television entertainment package in this nation and not have at least a portion of your dollars support Corporations that are championing/furthering biased programming. Even if you use your rabbit ears, you're likely to pick up a Clear Channel or Sinclair Broadcasting signal. I've covered this ground before. What's worse is that some on the left think that the answer is to support and fund greater left-biased programming to counter the right. Perhaps I'm woozy from the altitude up here in my sedan chair, but somehow that isn't the America I wanted my children to grow up in - the America where you encourage your child to keep up on current events only to have them exposed to 24 hour a day half-truth, fiction, soundbytes, and inane screaming back and forth. Come to think of it, I'm not sure I'd want my child reading blogs either. At least, not until they've completed a graduate level course in critical reasoning. Five years later and I feel more united than ever.

    The 'We-dia' is Coming | 7 comments (7 topical)