Tuesday, March 09, 2004
Bloggers: a check on the fourth estate
In a recent Chicago Tribune column Mr. Wycliff recounts the tale of a journalist at the Tribune, Uli Schmetzer, being caught falsifying a source for a quote in one of his articles by an Australian Blogger, Tim Blair.
Mr. Wycliff concludes with the following:
It is a very good development indeed; more power to the people is what the internet and bloggers are creating. Let the critique of the media continue. Let it be harsh, let it be merciless, let it be fair, and let it be dilligent; let it set the record straight and allow people to make decisions for themselves based on facts, not on the opinions and ideologies of the reporters and editors of a distant newspaper.
Mr. Wycliff concludes with the following:
"One last lesson comes to mind: It could be that technology already is providing us a kind of ultimate check in the form of the Internet. In the past, national and foreign correspondents could roam the country or the world writing stories about people who would never see their work. In the Internet age, there are fewer and fewer places where the Chicago Tribune--or the Waxahachie Daily Light, for that matter--cannot be accessed and read critically by people about whom we write. And that is a very good thing."
It is a very good development indeed; more power to the people is what the internet and bloggers are creating. Let the critique of the media continue. Let it be harsh, let it be merciless, let it be fair, and let it be dilligent; let it set the record straight and allow people to make decisions for themselves based on facts, not on the opinions and ideologies of the reporters and editors of a distant newspaper.
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