"Necessity is the Mother of All Invention"
Why did Blackfive and Milblogs and War On Terror News come about? Because the "old media" was not telling the whole story about Our Troops? Because Troops and Veterans recognized that the MSM (main stream media) was withholding stories and slanting others. Some Milbloggers may have recognized the politics behind it, but all recognized that enlightening those directly around them was insufficient.
If it is true (and it is) when it comes to Our Troops and the use of Our Troops for a partisan slant by the media giants, then it is also true in other arenas. An editor of an Old Media paper admitted to me their purposeful slant, though he claimed it was based on market analysis of what his readers wanted to hear, rather than promotion of one party over the other. The record of the conversation was later erased by a journalist who is more avid in slanting the news while denying there is a slant.
It was on her site, so it was within her authority and her rights to remove the conversation.
But there and elsewhere, I've often said it is not the 50 cents that causes citizens to stop buying papers while buying their $4.00 coffee. It is the fact that the print media have gone too far in establishing their slant of the news. It is hardly even hidden anymore and the conversation I mentioned above not only enlightened me but astounded me in that an editor of a major regional newspaper admitted it.
And even as he admitted their partisan slant, he did not grasp that the realization of it by readers was the reason for their failing finances. The old media continues to blame their declining readership on the
The old media rightfully views the new media as a competitor and has at once attempted to move into the new media space as well as to attack the new media and to even strangle it with "policy" and lawsuits. The battle for information versus information management will not be won in the short term. Some "news media" have gone so far as to ban even quotes from their publications in the new media.
The internet has afforded corporations, individuals, and governments to plead their case directly to the people. And the people wade through an abundance of information to find websites they trust, or simply agree with. Sites like the Huffing Post expound on the blatant partisanship while the NYTimes attempts to outdo them. Media such as the Washington Times has invited in Bloggers to contribute.
The New Yorker recently came under fire from Milbloggers when it was learned that no one on their staff had any military experience or knowledge and hence they simply assigned someone with a passing childhood interest to write authoritavely on the subject. It is indicative of the hubris of "journalists" in writing as if they are experts on subjects they have no clue about. The new media allows true experts to expose the idiots.
Meanwhile, sites like this one have learned how to find public domain information that can be used to present "just the facts." We trust our readers with the facts. We publish not only what we've studied and know, but only that which we can prove with evidence. When we can, we get to the bottom of the news immediately. When sensationalist journalism makes something a hot story, we keep it to the known facts and allow time and investigation (where warranted) to take its course.
We publish any corrections to an error with the same prominence as the error. And that policy makes the publication of iffy information less likely. No one likes to admit errors and we are no exception, so we are more careful with things that might be false speculation or simple spin. We had to apologize to General Sanchez over such an error and there have been few others.
Our opinions are based on experience and study, but are clearly delineated from the facts and news.
We welcome new contributors to our site as well as to the space of factual reporting. We are an entrenched part of the "new media." We hope that one day there will exist a whole network of experienced members of every field presenting "just the facts" and their experienced opinions on their areas of expertise.
And we recognize that if the "old media" adopted our standards, which are their historic standards to a degree, they would make us obsolete. But so long as they blame the symptom, rather than the cause of their own demise, I suspect they will continue on their slow slide to a premature demise and return to Congress hat in hand requesting a bailout of their failed model.
Stumble It!
