DUers! This one's for us! Take a bow!

[Angry Girl]

Excerpt from an excellent article: The Big E: Ethics, Bloggers, and Independent Media

Some of the blogs I visit daily are Democratic Underground, Watching the Watchers, Atrios, Americablog, Blogactive (which has merged with Raw Q), Brad Blog, Bloggerman, and Randi Rhodes/Mike Malloy blogs. I have my coffee in the morning and I run through the blogs. DU has an astonishing collection of citizen journalists, bloggers, and all sorts of highly skilled people who could probably run this country better than our three branches of government put together.

:toast:
Right on!

http://radiofreeblogistan.com/2005/02/21/the_big_e_ethics_bloggers_and_independent_media.html#more

[Sparkle]

1. Good find from an angry girl.

:thumbsup:

[Stephanie]

2. "citizen journalists"

I like that - sums it up

[Wilms]

3. Well...

It's true. :)

[SupormomFreeAtLast]

4. Kewl!

Thanks

[joefree1]

5. Hurrah for talented DUers!

The right wing might have the money but we got all the talent and the good looks.


Seating now available in the Smoking Section:
Politics, humor, death and the Devil - http://www.eDiablo.com

[Nothing Without Hope]

6. Great find! Thanks for the cheer-up!

Somebody needs to make sure Skinner sees this, he deserves a cheer-up too.

[jdots]

7. thanks that was nice to hear.

free drinks in the lounge for everyone.

[pearl]

8. Thanks Angry Girl

I needed that :bounce:

[Tsiyu]

51. I'll bring the Funyuns n/t

[5thGenDemocrat]

9. Citizen journalists

Nobody ever mined the news headlines like our buddy Khephra did. A lot of what we are, I would hope, we owe to him. As for myself, I used to be a journalist -- these days, I think I like "citizen journalist" better.
John
And I can't say I disagree about the running the country better part, either.

[arcane1]

32. I couldn't agree more

:toast:

[chemp]

10. That's great

Now demand your White House press pass, citizen reporter.

[Swamp Rat]

11. Larisa is very smart!

;):D

[NewJeffCT]

12. Thanks - H2O Man for President

or at least something important.

[Freebird12004]

13. Yea !

:toast: to DU

[Feathered Fish]

14. Very nice

Yep, I may be a lounge lizard but lurk an awful lot in Gd and Gd: p. I have to say I agree!
:toast:

[mandyky]

15. "highly skilled people who could probably run this country better than "

our three branches of government put together.

Absolutely! BTW, how many folks do we have running for office this next cycle. I have seen one so far (PA I think).

[G_j]

26. and no doubt one of the first things that would happen

would be an effort to revive the check and balances that were meant to make those three branches function in a democratic manner.
No more executive branch dictators!

[BiggJawn]

16. I'll take the FCC, if you please...

Much to the chagrin of the Telecom companies who've gotten used to yankin' Mikey Bowel's chain...

[in_cog_ni_to]

17. Man, couldn't have said it better myself.

I'm always in awe of the people on this site. It just doesn't get any better than THIS think tank. WTG DUers! :toast:

[Buns_of_Fire]

27. A couple of years ago, some people were bemoaning

the fact that the left doesn't have any Think Tanks. At the time, I believe I said in effect that the left DOES have a think tank -- and you're logged on to it! Congratulations to all! Have a beer! :toast: (Oh, and since you're up, would you mind getting me one, too?)

[katinmn]

18. Nice compliment to DU

:kick:

[Al-CIAda]

19. I applaud you people as well, great work. -eom

[rocktivity]

20. You like me, you like me!

and I want to thank all the little people at DU who made this honor possible...of course, being nominated was an honor in itself!

:bounce:
rocknation

[meganmonkey]

21. Hee Hee! We're so special

:D

[Callboy]

22. must be talking about me.

hA!

[Chicago Democrat]

23. You are very welcome!

:Cheers:

[Ironpost]

24. Right on

[AnnInLa]

25. And then there's Wonkette:

Wonkette doesn't mind receiving tips from DUers and posting those tips, but she puts us down every chance she gets: (from Feb 21)

"Karl Rove Got Dan Rather and You're Next #

New York's Congressman Maurice Hinchey has his sights trained on the sexy scheming hindquarters of White House master-of-all-he-surveys Karl Rove, according to report from a community forum in Ithaca:

Rep. Hinchey launched into a barking moonbat conspiracy rant worthy of Democratic Underground, telling the audience he believed the fake CBS memos were planted by Karl Rove to discredit Dan Rather, and divert attention from President Bush’s “draft dodging.”"

[Catchawave]

28. "Conspiracy rant worthy of DU".....LOL....

I believe Republicans call these "Think Tanks" !

[sunnystarr]

29. Wonkette gave deliberate mis-information in an interview and

stated that DailyKos and another blogger posted pro-Dean blogs while accepting money from the Dean campaign. In that interview with the MSM she made it appear that both were hiding their work as consultants for the Dean campaign. That was only a month or so ago.

The facts were contrary to what she stated and posted. One blogger (can't remember who it was at the moment) closed down his site for about 6 months while hired as a consultant by the Dean campaign. DailyKos posted a huge public statement of what he was doing for the Dean campaign and had other bloggers stand in for him for about 3 or 4 days each week.

I was furious about it. She gained media coverage at the expense of the reputation of 2 excellent blog sites. I never did go back to her site to read her "apology" which she couldn't seem to find time to post but promised it would appear about a week later. This was so unacceptable that I vowed I'd never contribute to her traffic again.

[RayneToday]

30. Hence the article about ethics

Jerome Armstrong at MyDD.com was the other blogger.

That was one of the concerns that prompted my interview of Larisa A. from RawStory.com. Are bloggers subject to the same ethics as journalists? I don't think so personally, except for those individuals who are journalists or public officials or corporate officers, posting information pertinent to their profession. Bloggers at large are independent individuals who use blogs to speak freely, no matter their opinion.

But it is opinion.

And consequently, Wonkette shouldn't be given any more accordance than anyone else who's publishing their opinion. I personally don't care for hers so I don't read her. And I certainly wouldn't go to her for facts.

What's Wonkette's affiliation anyhow? who's paying her tab? That's where concerned readers should push back. If she thinks she's got the right to voice an opinion about ethics and compensation for blogging, then she should understand when readers voice the same concerns.

[Old and In the Way]

33. Blogs are all over the social/political spectrum.

I've only been there a couple of times due to links on salacious gossip, I'm embarrassed to say.

I think the blogosphere is still evolving, it's a work in process. There are no standards per se, so it is caveat emptor. Some are more hard news, little/no commentary...others are all commentary, no news.

One recent event that is beginning to change everyone's opinion of blogs is the story development of Gannon/Guckert. A question was asked (here, I believe), then posters at other sites start doing research. Some info gets modified or disgarded alltogether...other small bits become amplified and developed. Eventually, a real news story is born.

It's Open Source Journalism. Like a piece of software, different people can add or fix parts of the story, collaborating on tasks and making the code available to all. It does get peer reviewed in its own way. If the facts aren't right, people will challenge and correct the record.

It can be manipulated, of course (see Rathergate/Plamegate). But conservative sites, for the most part, seem to be more attuned to disseminating talking points than to pursuit of truth. It's the paternal, authoritative mindset thet they operate under. That doesn't mean we (progressive Left) don't have our share of blind alleys or dead ends or false conclusions drawn because of faulty/incomplete information....it's just that there will always be others willing to step in and challenge these conclusions based on better information and that makes it self correcting. While we can apologize and deny with the best of the RW noise machine, we are, by nature, more open to changing our mind...even if we don't much like the conclusion.

It's the bottom up approach to information gathering and dissemination, rather than top down model that we've had prior to the internet. It bodes quite well for a free and informed press....assuming this government can stand to have us be free and informed.

Think about it....DU has probably 10,000 active/semi-active news gatherers, analysts, and editorialists "on staff". That would make us one hell of a large media company...and we're cheap, too! :-)

[Hissyspit]

38. An' do ya notice how many DUers are former (or current) JOURNALISTS?

I used to be a newspaper reporter (weeklies) and have studied journalism on an academic level as part of my undergraduate minor.
As a weekly reporter, I did a better job much of the time than did my daily colleagues - and TV journalism? Don't get me started.

[AZCat]

47. "Open Source Journalism"...

I like how you put that.

Mind if I use that phrase?

[Old and In the Way]

63. I'd like to take credit for it, but I'm sure I've heard kicked around

here or someplace before. Sure, spread the word....it is what it is. And it's changing our assumptions about information processing.

[gtar100]

53. Awesome concept

Open Source Journalism.

Open Source is our alternative to complete corporate take-over and control of our computers. It's now working to save us from MSM dribble. Nature has it's ways of growing through the cracks.

True village-style democracy...only amplified for the masses.

[Career Prole]

42. Hey! Those were your kind words up at the top!

Thank you much for the plug, and welcome to DU!
:yourock:

[RayneToday]

46. Wasn't me

Can't take the credit for anything more than discussing ethics and the necessity of a free and independent media with Larisa. It's all about her.

Glad to be here, tho', heard a lot about you folks. Never enough opportunities to rub shoulders with fellow progressives.

~Rayne Today

[Auntie Bush]

59. A big WELCOME to DU...best on the Net.

[Auntie Bush]

60. A big WELCOME to DU...best on the Net.

[BrklynLiberal]

66. Someone DOES pay her tab, as she said on a roundtable discussion

on a Charlie Rose Show featuring her, Andrew Sullivan, the Instapundit guy, and Dean's Internet Guru who wrote the book "The Revolution Will Not be Televised". (Cannot remeber names, sorry. Not enough coffee yet, I guess)
She said that she was being bankrolled to do her blog, altho she did not say by whom.

[scarletwoman]

45. It was NOT Wonkette, it was another blogger called ZONKETTE.

Facts are important, and while I have no desire to defend Wonkette -- whom I find puerile and obnoxious at the very least -- you are doing a major disservice to the truth by attributing to her the actions of a completely different person.

ZONKETTE is Zephyr Teachout, a former Dean campaign staffer ("internet manager"). The original post on her blog, calling attention to Kos and Jerome's involvement as hired TECHNICAL consultants for the Dean campaign, was made just ahead of a "Blogging Ethics" conference sponsored by Harvard's Berkman Center for Internet, Law and Society -- of which she was one of the organizers.

I followed the whole story, detail by detail, day after day. While Wonkette DID chime in at one point with a completely idiotic and useless comment totally lacking in any factual underpinnings, she was not the source of the original disinformation.

ZONKETTE, not Wonkette. Please keep it straight.

Thanks,
sw

[sarahlee]

57. Wonkette can be entertaining, but

she is a paid blogger/writer - paid by whom, I don't recall. But she does publicly admit it on some of the MSM programs she has done, when queried.

Someone does pay her to do politics as "entertainment" - it is to entertain with political gossip, not to provide real news. And face it - with all the great writers out there, you get someone who is also as cute/attractive as she is, then you figure they (employers) were also anticipating/planning face time on the MSM when they set her up.

I seldom read her blog anymore, because I have begun to believe that her employers may have an ulterior motive to be used to discredit real journalism done by bloggers. First there is a period of time to establish "trust" and history, so then a blowup can occur and be believed. I have no idea what that might be - the shape or color it might take or when it could happen. I just think that with this administration, and more importantly, the corporate ownership of our country, a little paranoia is not completely unwarranted.

However - need to note that the "Dean paying bloggers" story was NOT Wonkette. It was an ex Dean person going by (it think deliberately) misleading moniker of "Zonkette"

[Hissyspit]

39. Plus Wonkette oversimplifies. I go to and post to all these Blogs. n/t

They all have their own character, but to assume they have a concrete, non-changing population of a pure character is over-simplistic.

[steve2470]

44. Why does Wonkette put us down ? I don't get it nt

[Iggytop]

52. WTF !!!!!!!

[RayneToday]

31. So...what about it?

Larisa sets an awful lot of store by DU folks by allowing her opinion to be put in print. (Thanks, Larisa, btw...) She obviously feels there are some very smart cookies here who may be able to solve problems given the opportunity.

What about the issue of OSPA? How do you think it should work? Would a progressive audience be willing to support an alternative to the right-leaning Associated Press?

Comments at the original interview are encouraged - see link in first post.

Thanks!

[lala_rawraw]

34. Well,

I really do respect the people here and the environment. You guys are amazing. Just a heads up, we are about to release a PR stating we are looking for two editorial interns: one for me and one for John. Mike Rogers (blogactive and RawQ) is looking for one, especially from the GLBT community. The PR thing has not gone out yet, but I would very much like the person on board for me to be from DU, yep biased:)

We are working with some U's to see if we can give college credit; at least one seems very interested. Anyway, look for the PR and then if/when you apply, please put that you are from DU and your DU name... I have asked Avery to forward those to me right off the bat. Only one, I know, it sucks...blah!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Again, I have much respect for this community; although my random rants don't always say that. :)

[GoSolar]

35. Wow!

Thanks.

[Just Me]

36. It's true. DU has some incredibly talented participants!!!

DemocraticUnderground deserves to be acknowledged.

So good to finally see DU get the compliment it deserves!! :bounce:

[autorank]

37. AngryGirl, you sure that was our DU. Just kidding, great post!!!!!

DU RULES

[UrbScotty]

40. Howard Dean says...

YYYYYEEEEEAAAAARRRRRGGGGGHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!

[Joanne98]

41. DU rocks........

[steve2470]

43. great find ! way to go ! eom :-)

[lollipop]

48. I guess this would be a good time

to join the amazing DU. Congrats to everyone, keep up the good work!!

[Eric J in MN]

49. I would call this a "message board," not a "blog."

Nice compliment anyway, though.

[Just Me]

58. Personally, I consider it an example of democracy in action.

DU is a "discussion space" which advances democracy.

[Old and In the Way]

64. A media bazaar, if you will.....

:-)

Not to be confused with the bizarre media that permeates our culture today.

[Tsiyu]

50. Thanks for passing this on

No truer words were ever blogged....:headbang:

[number6]

54. Toast

:toast::toast::toast:..:kick:;)

[AlCzervik]

55. Hell yes and drinks all around!!!!

My first foray into any of the blogging was Phil Parlock and his assholery and thanks to him oopo research has become my favorite hobby.

[Digit]

56. Wonderful! Wonderful!

I heartily agree!

[DearAbby]

61. I am not worthy.:::bowing::: I am not worthy!!!

:toast: to you DU!

[hfojvt]

62. I do not know

how that person can have the time to read all of those blogs. DU alone seems to take all of my time and I am no longer visiting the Daily Howler or Bartcop like I once did.

[paineinthearse]

65. .

:grouphug: