The Decline of MWO

[MarkTwain]

Political Sites and Bulletin Boards are as unbiquitous as are most of them obscure. However, of the dozen of so quality and prominent progressive homes, Media Whores Online (MWO), towered above even the best.

Arrogant, in-your-face, and angry but always penetrating, insightful, and filled with original material that was many times brilliant and stunning, MWO was the one resource to go to watch the fourth estate - and equally as important their puppet-masters - put in their place, called out, exposed for all their vain-glorious hypocrisy and malicious intent. But good.

What's happened?

Absences whose legnth are only exceeded by their frequency, material which seems to be far more cut and paste of their EMail traffic (albeit of unusually high quality) rather than originally composed, and a general malaise which seems to hang over the site like a dark and ominous cloud have become the standards for them now. Just when was the last MW of the week? I can't recall and click on the link this morning and you get a 404 error.

Lack of overall consistency and a failure in timely updates for any site are the tragic hallmarks of its march to obscurity.

I don't know. Maybe the fact that Bush and the Cabal, along with the media trolls which they control, are finally dissassembling and deconstrucing so vividly before the nation's and world's eyes that MWO is sitting back and letting the bastards fall on their own petards. Maybe, like all stars, they are just in their natural decline and burn-out.

But I, for one, miss them and miss having to clean up the coffee which I used to choke on while reading the site each morning.

[ikojo]

1. I clicked on the link provided and up came the following

STUNNING SURVEY RESULTS ON TROOP MORALE
One Third say Iraq Mission "Lacks Clear Definition"
Same Number say War "Of Little or No Value"
Why do they Hate America?
Bush Debacle "Threatens to Provoke Sizeable Exodus"

Troops Dissatisfied, Iraq Poll Finds
Bradley Graham and Dana Milbank

Thursday, October 16, 2003; Page A01 A broad survey of U.S. troops in Iraq by a Pentagon-funded newspaper found that half of those questioned described their unit's morale as low and their training as insufficient,and said they do not plan to reenlist.

[MarkTwain]

6. Regrets....

... however, the "link" which was the point of the reference, was the link on their page, itself, specific to the Media Whore of the Week - implying a weekly event.

It hasn't been updated in months and when you click on it, at least this morning, you get a 404 error.

Your excerpt well proves the point. That material, still "above the fold," is four days old. MWO used to update not only daily, but many times more than once a day when items were breaking.

Now, we're lucky to get one or two updates a week. And much of it non-original material.

Considering what's going on in Washington and the world in general, that we are in the middle of one of the high seasons of politics after summer vacation, the fact that there is just so very much material which cries out for their analysis and wit, their abscense is all the more notable.

[robbedvoter]

9. You may want to click your own link again. MWO last edition

was on Friday.

[bearfartinthewoods]

19. there is a limit to what most of us will do for free

eventually. volunteers tire of carrying the load. especially when all that comes in in praise and not some more tangible reward.

[Skittles]

23. I really miss THE RECORD

people would point out endless examples of media whore atrocities. They would leave me laughing or feeling outraged and very angry. THE RECORD hasn't worked for months either.

[robbedvoter]

2. The Horse still rules - whatever your little beef may be

What Happened, Mark? Your candidate of choice not featured often enough by the Horse? Your letter not published? As the great guy whose moniker you borrowed would have said: "Rumors of MWO's demise have been greatly exaggerated"

[Name removed]

8. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[robbedvoter]

10. MWO published daily last week. You didn't notice.

Is that imature of me to point out?

[MarkTwain]

12. Consider this...

.... my last response to your obvious trolling and baiting.

No, it is not immature to point out that the last post was on Friday.

Even if it was lost on a "mind" such as yours that the material highlighted is well dated by now.

However, it is immature to post the bitter attacks against myself and others in this thread who are raising points which have long been evident and a topic at other times to everyone in the progressive community for awhile now. It's just that the problem at MWO is even more apparent in the last month or two.

It is immature to ignore the primary points of the post which began this thread and to post nothing but catty, nasty, and mean-spirited challenges which have absolutely nothing to do with the intent of this thread.

They have only to do with what is apparently either one of two things:

Your attempt to derail this thread and have it closed for flaming.

Or, your equally as obvious inability to engage in meaningful and reasonable discussion.

Leave me alone, troll.

[displacedtexan]

14. you're expressing exactly what i've been feeling

for quite a while now.
every morning, i check buzzflash headlines for linksto important news stories. next, i go to mwo for their brilliant analysis of current events and issues. then, i read my local paper online. after that, i check josh marshall's talkingpointsmemo and the hamster, before clicking on DU.

yes, this is my personal praise of DU because, if other sites haven't been updated, i can find the most up-to-date headlines and thoughtful GD posts at DU!

i don't even check bushwatch, bartcop, or ampol until evening because they don't update early enough for me before i go to work, if they update at all.

you and i, along with other concerned DUers, seem to be expressing our own need for updates. we are (rightly) afraid of burn out... because burn out (and its eventual partner, silence)is the best friend of fascism.

[monarch]

16. Same exact websurfing

method and concerns as Displacedtexan except that I check DU first and last. I also thought the original post was respectful of MWO and not deserving of petty criticism.

[librechik]

If you want to get really depressed, the Daily Howler is going too

People get tired. Things get old. Start your own website and make it better, and quit bitching. It's all good.

[MarkTwain]

27. Not bitching...

.... just marking, with regret, the changes - which I suspect are not for the good - of a dear old friend. And asking if any others are similarly disappointed.

Not unlike the feeling of regret at visiting DU and finding reasonable questions, legitimate threads, and commentary of merit met with hostile, nasty, and mean-spirited retorts such as: "quit your bitching" and other such meaningless tripe.

Which is happening with all too much frequency here to many members when they raise viable points.

[Lost4words]

3. I noticed it also,

its sad, i wonder what is up over there?

[robbedvoter]

5. What? What did you notice? What's sad? Tell me so I can cry with you.

[displacedtexan]

4. not just the horse

i've been worried about site burn out for a while now. mwo, bartcop, americanpoliticsjournal, smirkingchimp, bushwatch, talkingpointsmemo, and even buzzflash (not as many links as there used to be) are not able to keep up with my need for fresh posts daily.

thank whatever for DU!

[robbedvoter]

7. I tell ya, things aren't what they used to be, In my time we used

to stare at the sun until we'd go blind, and we LOVED IT! (Dana Carvey)
Is this one of those "Nobody does it like DU threads? If so, should,t you let the Horse out of it? It's kinda despicable.

[mhr]

11. It Is Difficult To Keep The Fire Burning When Ignorance

has replaced inquisitiveness in the public mind.

[Gore1FL]

13. I gotta agree

Some of their problems seem to be taking vacationsat what seem to be critical times -- not really their fault -- everyone deserves time off and there is no way of knowing what they news will be during such planned absenses.

It seems to be less hard-hitting than before, and the "fan" mail is far too dominant, IMO.

I still go there and i still miss it when there isn't an update.

There is no doubt that something is missing,

[maha]

15. The "horse" may have a life ....

The amount of work involved in maintaining a site like that is staggering, and it may be that the individual who is the "horse" just can't keep it up day in and day out. However, if this individual has means to take all those vacations, she/he could hire an assistant!

I agree WHO was one of the first and best, but I got so annoyed with the frequent prolonged absences I kicked it off my blogroll and rarely look in on it any more.

[Catt03]

17. Why not contact them with

your concerns and get the facts?

MWO is pretty good about responding.

[MarkTwain]

29. Yes, they are...

... about a year ago, I was motivated to contribute. Looked for a link and found none.

I Emailed them and, along with praising their work and thanking them for their time, I offered the contribution in whatever form they felt comfortable.

I did get a very cordial and quick reply. They thanked me, offered a few witty comments, and indicated that contributions were not in their model.

Good point about writing them. I will send them the URL for this thread. Thanks.

[scarletlib]

18. I love the Horse!

When it's not up for daily news I miss it greatly. However, the quality of the work is absolutely the best. MWO does not take contributions and we don't really know who runs it.

I am still intrigued by the rumor that Al Gore is really the jockey of the Horse. If he is that would explain the absences and especially lately.

Regardless, I check the Horse everyday to see if anything new has come up for me to read.

[HootieMcBoob]

22. the identity of "the horse"?

any ideas? It's clearly one person (imo). I read somewhere that it might just be Al himself! I've been wondering if the downtime of mwo, coincides with times when Al is busy or involved in something? Any ideas?

[unfrigginreal]

20. MWO has good reason for cutting so much slack to the media whores...

MWO doesn't want to bite the hand that's shoving MWO's preferred candidate down the publics throat. You're right though it is a shame, and I look forward to reading the old MWO again sometime next November.

[agingdem]

21. MWO

Maybe, MWO is enjoying watching the media self-destruct. As for me, I go to DU first, Talkingpointsmemo, and Salon. Much later I hit Altercation, Tapped, and Bobbeckel. MWO is a twice a week thing. Not enough updated news. Buzzflash is fine except the lead-ins really annoy me. I'm a liberal democrat and no one has to tell me that what I'm about to read in right-wing crap...it's intuitive.

[VeniceBeat]

24. None of You Visit Atrios?

Pretty funny and insightful, great group of commenters:

www.atrios.blogspot.com

Encourage the Horse with some money if you want the Horse to be consistent.

Have you sent DU some cash?

[Old and In the Way]

30. One of my favorites!

Maybe MWO can relax because there are a hugh number of quality sites interlinked on the net-

Atrios
TBOGG
Hullabaloo
Billmon
Kos
Seeing the Forest
Suburban Guerilla
Eric Alterman
This Modern World
Liberal Oasis
Uggabugga

The list goes on. I appreciate the Horse's contribution to making an impact on the political landscape....I really needed them 2 years ago. Today, there are many quality sites that one can access and get great content. A single site is no longer critical in getting our message out.

[bpilgrim]

25. don't forget GlobalFreePress ;-)

has plenty of headlines from various sites like DU, CommonDreams, YellowTimes, etc.

and when we aren't busy working our day jobs or raising our family we even post our own stories with lots of supplemental info.

http://news.GlobalFreePress.com

don't forget to check out our Hall Of Fame...
http://news.GlobalFreePress.com/hof.pl

If anyone would like to join our volunteer staff just send me a DU mail :hi:

peace

[VeniceBeat]

26. Can I Send You Some Cash, bpilgrim?

It wouldn't be much but I support what you do. I would encourage others to send you a couple of bucks, too. It adds up.

Keep up the good work! :) :hi:

[Monte Carlo]

28. MWO USED to be a good site...

... when they restricted themselves to being a media watchdog. But somewhere along the line, they became too fixated on hammering home their own points, their own agenda. They wanted it both ways - both monitoring pundits and being a pundit themselves.

[PlanetBev]

31. The horse does seem ready for the glue factory

I miss the old horse, especially "Inferno of Whores", where you could post your wish list about what you'd like to happen to your favorite media whore. What worries me is that if they are truly burning out, what will be the future of other websites if Bush wins again. Who can continue to have enough hope to keep updating these sites? I think one thing that is really discouraging for a site like MWO is that nothing sticks to Bush, so anything story that looks like it have legs disappears off the headlines in no time.

[Isere]

34. MWO is a treasured friend

I certainly have noticed the decline in vitality over at MWO and I very much regret it. That blog has been lifting my spirits since the beginning and I sincerely wish it a rapid return to its former vigor.

Remember the days of the discussion board, the game of Charades and the weekly crowning of a Media Whore? There was energy, humor, and good research, all of which stirred up lots of pent-up grass-roots activity directed toward the media barons and servile press corps.

Undoubtedly the blogs that are run purely out of altruism (like MWO and The Howler) will run out of steam eventually. If only they would put up a few links to Amazon or a PayPal so that we grateful "customers" could express our devotion. Maybe that would put a burr under their saddle.

MWO, I want You, I need You, I love You with all my Hearrrrrrrrt....

[9215]

32. They did their job

and they need a big applause IMHO. MWO really exposed alot of vile corporate influence in the media.

I hope they understand and get satisfaction from the knowledge that they were a vital part of shaking up the media to focus on relevant issues.

MWO :toast: and best wishes.

[pruner]

33. I too have noticed a decline @ MWO

one of the things I've been thinking about lately is the fact that it's generally assumed that MWO is run by Democratic "political operatives".

that being said, it's possible that the person/people behind MWO are involved with one of the campaigns.

[WillyBrandt]

35. they might just be busy and tired

maybe the person who ran it just had a kid or something. it's probably something very mundane