"The blogosphere needs to get a grip. I'm not sure which was more pathetic, bloggers posting their phone numbers for "media interviews" or all the bloviating about "whitewash" and "cover-up." Memo to bloggers: (1) we don't care if you're on TV and; (2) The report is the most scathing indictment of the standards and practices of CBS News ever published, by anyone at anytime (with the possible exception of Renata Adler's work on the Westmoreland vs. CBS case). Stop preening and stop whining." (via Howard Kurtz)
UPDATE: Cheer up, fellow-scribblers. The Journal's Peggy Noonan is much more complimentary:
"The biggest improvement in the flow of information in America in our lifetimes is that no single group controls the news anymore. "You can complain now, and your complaints can both register and have an impact on the story... American journalism is no longer a castle,
and you are no longer the serf who cannot breach its walls. The castle doors have been forced open. Other voices have access. Bloggers for instance don't just walk in and out, they have offices in the castle walls.
"Remember the movie "Broadcast News"? The bland young reporter played by William Hurt who yearned to be a star and a member of the establishment would be a major network anchor or producer now, his hair gone a distinguished gray. The character played by Albert Brooks--the bright, mischievous and ultimately more talented journalist--would be a blogger now." (via RealClearPolitics)
As it happens, I watched the film again over the holiday. The story still holds up as a journalistic slice of life. (And I'm not just saying that because I'm in love with Holly Hunter.) It was a bit disconcerting, though, to have to remind my sons what a typewriter was.
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