Learning My Lesson

There are some interesting things I would like to discuss before I stop posting on this blog forever. Alex responded to my previous post with a question: Is elite media ever completely unbiased?

Of course, the answer is no. As we analyzed at the beginning of the semester, pictures, headlines, placement, and myriad other factors contribute to the natural bias in the elite media. There is also the innate drive to sell newspapers, and without catchy headlines or interesting fluff articles, that would have been much harder. So I understand that even though blogs are biased, every outlet for the media has a bias. But the bias of the elite media, especially newspapers, is not as glaringly opinionated as those on the blogosphere, or at least those on partisan blogs. And I don't expect them to be. But being that opinionated and powerful (ahem...DRUDGE...) might push the limits sometimes.

As Shirky discussed, the Internet allows us to share with everyone else, to put out video for everyone to watch, and to have discussion more freely and more frequently. These are all changes that we have to adapt to, and we're doing a good job. Politicians (those that aren't Barack Obama) must learn to differentiate between fads and revolutions. This is the latter.

I wrote last week:

But these partisan blogs, from Talking Points Memo to Hot Air, also contribute to the cycle of media news I find most distressing: what Jon Stewart would refer to as "partisan hackery." I've written about this numerous times this semester (here especially), and even though my experiences in the blogosphere have opened my eyes to a number of positive aspects of this news media revolution, I still remain cautious.

This week and its Rod Blagojevich scandal was especially interesting. When the story broke on December 9, and the words "Obama" and "scandal" were in the same headline, I knew that the conservative forces in this country would try their hardest to make any connection from the scandal to the president-elect.

Before you know it, user "rnc" posted this video, titled "Questions Remain."

Perhaps it was just the election season, but it seems as though the blogs have moved back to reporting on important things. This reminds me of the whole Bill Ayers scandal this summer, though in that, there was clear evidence to suggest that Obama did not have clear connections to the former domestic terrorist. We do have a right to ask questions of our elected officials...that's the foundation of our democracy. Popular sovereignty depends on our ability to know the truth and discern for ourselves if politicians should be held accountable. And the way we get our truth is through the media.

Lipstick on pigs? Blackberries? Blogs, in my opinion, did too much to make these insignificant issues seem significant during the election season.

And I rescind my previous criticism of blogs.

One more thing: the difference between partisan blogs and so-called news blogs was glaring. The latter are just boring. I don't care what some real journalist thinks...I'll just read his real article. If I want someone's opinion, I'll read their partisan blogs, where they can rail against candidates and chant my candidate's name. News blogs, to me, have no purpose, except to bypass an editor.

I must learn to teach myself about the nature of a revolutionary medium. I am just not used to it. I guess my conclusion for this semester is just that: I criticize politicians for not adjusting, but I haven't been able to either.