Politicians, newspapers, celebrities, and major television networks all claim that blogs are not accountable in the same way they are. That is true. It is also disingenuous. Blogs are certainly accountable, and in ways far more direct and dynamically than are those other entities.
If you were to ask a newspaper’s leadership how they are more accountable than are blogs, you would probably hear a list of accountability something like this:
“A reporter is accountable to his editor. The editor is accountable to the publisher. The publisher is accountable to the owner. The owner is accountable to the advertisers”
Who is missing from that list? Readers. Same for television news. Without readers/viewers, advertisers don’t pay.
Governor Rick Perry’s spokesman made it clear the other day that politicians in Austin, like politicians everywhere, don’t like being questioned without having some control over the questioning.
“The general public has to realize on blogs . . . there are no controls on accuracy or honesty. And there’s no accountability.
“People need to be very careful with what they read in the blogs. Most blogs seem to be run with a pretty severe liberal bent.”
Obviously, they don’t read blogs. If you want a severe liberal bent, you can find it. You can also find a severe conservative bent. And everything in between.
What controls on accuracy and honesty do you want? Mine are based on personal integrity. I won’t write anything I know to be false. Nor will I write on something I have doubts about, or something I know little about without stating I have doubts or too little information. Failing to do that, I can expect rapid response from readers with more knowledge than I have. And the ultimate accountability in the blogosphere is someone linking to an error on their own site and telling the entire world how stupid you are! The other seven million bloggers pretty much follow that same standard, regardless of political leanings. The percentage of bloggers who don’t is far smaller than that percentage in traditional media.
That’s nothing new, of course. Since the beginnings of this Nation, politicians have been taken to task by the people. As newspapers became the prevalent mode of distributing information, journalists took charge of the political discourse as their own turf. They did it in much the same way as blogs are now doing. Editors became, in their minds, Don Quixote armed with a press. In revolutionary France, journalists were the “Fourth Estate,” taking their place alongside the aristocrats, clergy, and citizens. MSM believe themselves to still hold that place, separate from the rest of us.
They have forgotten their roots, as have the politicians. Bloggers are Thomas Paines with keyboards and electrons and phosphors. Paine was accountable to his readers, and nobody else. So are we.
Politicians and MSM are having difficulty coming to grips with this new paradigm (I hate that word, but it fits). Their relationship, built over the years, is being called into question. So is their collective reputation. No longer can a politician with good press relationships (Kerry, McCain, Byrd) see his own missteps covered up. Nor can a politician with bad press relationships (Dubya) be taken to task without accusations being questioned (Rather). Bloggers quickly find chinks in their armor and a swarm develops.
Is that good? For the most part, yes. It can also cause harm. And that is something we need to watch.
But the Digital Gazette is a self-correcting entity. Those who make personal attack and unfounded innuendo their foundation will soon be shunned except by those who are virulently hard-core like themselves. Readers. Accountability.