Looking A Gift Horse In The Mouth

Heh. My previous post was awarded with a mention on CNN’s “Inside the Blogs” segment that perfectly sums up why reporting on blogosphere activity is such a stupid idea :

SCHECHNER:[1] Now, we should also mention that now there’s outrage on the left because they say that Dick Durbin had nothing to apologize for and they’re mad at him for being weak on this issue. One of those doing a little parody[2] is Greg over TheTalentShow.org. This is cross- posted at Tom Tomorrow’s This Modern World, and he basically parodies, with an analogy that has to do with a statement saying, if I read this to you and didn’t tell you it was a U.S. senator speaking, who would you think it was? So, a little play there, but they’re not happy on the left, now, with Dick Durbin. Ed?

Jeez, they’ve done a brilliant job squeezing all the funny out of my original post. Not that I expect them to quote the whole thing verbatim, but this mention was about as meaningful as saying “In the comedy world, Chris Rock has some interesting things to say about race relations noting that black people often do things one way while white people do the same things differently. Funny stuff, Ed?”

Seriously though, this whole “Inside the Blogs” business is ludicrous. The fact that a professional worldwide newsgathering organization is devoting any time to an unpublished amateur like me should be seen as the equivalent of waving a white flag. If the opinions of bloggers are so valuable, invite Glenn Reynolds and Duncan Black to co-host a “Capital Gang” type show or something. I’m grateful to reach a larger audience, but for a company with the staff, experience, resources, and reach of CNN to go trolling around the blogosphere looking for content to fill five minutes of airtime every day is just sad[3]….


1 : The transcript notes that Schechner’s title is “blog reporter”. I’ve never been one of those people who thinks being a blogger makes me a journalist, but if paraphrasing what I said makes her a “reporter”, doesn’t that merit a de facto promotion of some sort? Perhaps “self-published columnist” or something.

2 : Since the primary purpose of my original post was to make a political point and not just score a cheap laugh, I think the term “satire” is more appropriate here, but whatever…

3 : Especially when the rest of the day is spent on live press conferences with the family of a little boy who isn’t missing anymore or Larry King’s multiple interviews with psychics.