Sparks from the Anvil: Extra! Extra! Read All About It!

Linked with The WordSmith from Nantucket and his blog: Sparks from the Anvil: Extra! Extra! Read All About It! Blogs are being talked about in the papers this weekend, Sunday:

In the Los Angeles Times: The new faces of the city, In the blogosphere, stereotypes (Hollywood, palms, beaches) are augmented by musings on politics, neighborhoods and relationships.

"IN an odd synchronicity, as the pervasiveness of the Internet and mass media homogenizes mass culture, blogs have become small independent voices, like blades of grass poking up through cracks in cement. They are gasps for air and identity in a city known from the outside as lacking a discernible sense of place."

In the Los Angeles Time's commentary section, Outside the Tent, the Times invited outside critics to wag a finger, entitled: Where, you overpaid fools, was Little Green Footballs? .

Blogger, TENSION, provided some additional tiblets of information regarding the latest New York Times (NYT) article, Conservative Blogs are More Effective - by Michael Crowley :

"When the liberal activist Matt Stoller was running a blog for the Democrat Jon Corzine's 2005 campaign for governor, he saw the power of the conservative blogosphere firsthand." Crowley cites it as proof of how conservatives have mastered the art of using blogs as a deadly campaign weapon and raises the "Vast Right Wing Conspiracy myth." Bosun's observation: In his whinning tone, Crowley appears to concede that the left lacks talent to stop the truth. I wonder how a left leaning agenda which may lack truth and credibility could have talent? Is Crowley an overpaid and under-skilled spilled milk crier? Link to complete story. (you'll need to register with NYT to view the complete article.)

Mark Ehrman of the LA Times, Meet the Truth Squad, interviewed L.A. musician and liberal-Democrat John Amatonow brainchild of the new blog CrooksandLiars.com, left leaning rant.

Of course, Michelle Malkin weighed in with her eloquent commentary, CANDIDATE FOR DUMBEST NYTIMES PIECE EVER which provides an excellent rundown on Crowley's NYT article and the latest in MSM -- Blogosphere scuttlebutt. Way to go Michelle! As usual you are right on the button.

Tech Central Station, a good site I choose for timely information provided a well written article first published in Februrary, The Coming War of the Blogs:

It's a universal law of capitalism: when an industry faces a new and significant threat to its profits and powers it turns to the government for protection. Well, bloggers who write on current events are challenging the mainstream media (MSM), the most politically well-connected industry in America. Watch for the MSM to start using their political influence to burden bloggers.....But won't the First Amendment protect blogs? Unfortunately, courts already hold that many governmental restrictions on speech don't violate the First Amendment, and I can think of three areas in which the MSM might successfully change laws and regulations to hinder their blogger competitors: Campaign Finance Reform, Libel Law, Copyright Law. Bosun's Note: I place this Tech Centeral Station article in the "must read" category. They hit the nail on the head about leftist bias and credibility issues.

Tech Central Station quoted former Democratice Presidential candidate, John Kerry, "We learned that the mainstream media, over the course of the last year, did a pretty good job of discerning. But there's a subculture and a sub-media that talks and keeps things going for entertainment purposes rather than for the flow of information. And that has a profound impact and undermines what we call the mainstream media of the country. And so the decision-making ability of the American electorate has been profoundly impacted as a consequence of that. The question is, what are we going to do about it?" The full text of the a speech cited by Tech Central Station can be found in the Weekly Standard, "Kerry Loves the Mainstream Media. . . And has contempt for the American people" The Weekly Standard, Volume 010, Issue 25 Bosun's note: Kerry was talking about both bloggers and talk radio. They are both targets in the leftist gunsites. The reprocussions are still being felt by the MSM and Democratic Party.

Leftists and MSM may be planning to step up their hype against bloggers and try to reel in blogging in the coming election year future:

Web bloggers helped force the resignation of Eason Jordan, the CNN honcho, over his remarks at the World Economic Conference. Powerlineblog and Little Green Footballs immediately questioned the authenticity of the documents used by Rather and Mapes in their attempted expose of President Bush's National Guard Service. After defending the report for 12 days, CBS recanted, Mapes and Rather are now history. Source: PBS Newshour Bosun's note: Both exposed the truth to the light of day and justice was served.

As you can see there are lots of questions and concerns regarding the impact of Internet Bloggers from the mainstream media and leftists in government. It is expected that MSM and leftist are about to declare war on the more skillful conservative blogging base as we head into election year cycles. Besides lossing powerbase through truth, MSM is concerned about their bottom line and how alternative news sources have affected major news services such as Knight Ridder:

"Knight Ridder Has Fewer Readers" THE WALL STREET JOURNAL Whatever Knight Ridder spent to raise circulation, it wasn't sufficient to stem the erosion.......fewer people nationwide are subscribing to newspapers -- partly because of proliferating alternative sources of news, such as television and the Internet -- ...... The company's circulation declined 9% from early 1995 through early 2001...... nearly double the 5% drop of newspapers nationwide over roughly the same period..... Source: Mediaforesight.org

So far, MSM and leftists are not sure how to deal with the truth because the truth hurts and shines the spotlight on thier inconsistencies.

Technorati tags: Liberals, Leftists, Democrats,Conservatives, bloggers, Conservative Blogosphere, Journalistic Integrity, Opinion

Cross-posted: Knickerbocker News, The Bos'un at MSN