Recently, Bill Keller of the New York Times and Arianna Huffington of The Huffington Post have been engaged in a squabbling match over whose empire is more respectable. This is where I use the word ironic to explain what is evident to the passive spectator. As each side fact checks the validity of their assertions, the tenor of their dialogue contradicts them.
While perusing their carefully worded remarks, one assumes they are overhearing some sort of cocktail party cockfight in snide verbosity. The erudite one-upmanship reeks of petty, personal rivalry.
Why should this rivalry concern the masses? Well, as traditional media sources redefine and restructure the way they gather and disseminate information, there is a low grade fear among some news consumers that journalistic professionalism will yield to the most base elements of the blogosphere. In other words, we are afraid The Huffington Post and the New York Times will look more like an ego driven, subjective, viral blog, than an actual news source.
Although there has always been subjectivity and bias in news reporting, one would hope that the leaders of our news organizations would at least attempt to communicate in a way that honors both their profession and product.
Then again, they could just call each other out with the integrity of a Charlie Sheen youtube video.
Douglas Bursch is the author of Posting Peace: Why Social Media Divides Us and What We Can Do About It. He also hosts The Fairly Spiritual Show podcast.