We’ve said in many forums — on this blog, on an Internet talk radio show, in an interview with Random Fate — that the TRUE test of Blogtopia is going to be when we see that blogs don’t just scrutinize and demand accuracy from people with whom they disagree.
Can the left go after the left? Can the right go after the right? Or is the Blogtopia basically going to remain the 21st Century equivalent of the old political phampleteers? Is there truly a "new media" that someone on the right can rely on while reading a blog on the left and someone on the left can rely on while reading a blog on the right — or do people only intend to read what they agree with (that lets this blog out for everyone since we do links from all sides) and only come down hard on the "other" side? In other words, is accuracy less the goal than scoring points for "your own" side?
Jesse Taylor has a blunt take on this from his perspective and suggests bloggers might consider a little humility about what they do.
Joe Gandelman is a former fulltime journalist who freelanced in India, Spain, Bangladesh and Cypress writing for publications such as the Christian Science Monitor and Newsweek. He also did radio reports from Madrid for NPR’s All Things Considered. He has worked on two U.S. newspapers and quit the news biz in 1990 to go into entertainment. He also has written for The Week and several online publications, did a column for Cagle Cartoons Syndicate and has appeared on CNN.