Biased, or Just Lazy?
Ed Cone has probably the best short wrap-up I've seen on the awful "New York Times" article about the Iraqi bloggers at Iraq the Model.
The article's awfulness has more levels than a "Star Trek" chess set. It's journalistically embarrassing; the average reader of this blog probably knows more about this topic than Boxer does even after having written about it. When you are a reporter, part of your job is to look stupid -- when you ask the questions. By the time you write the story, you better not look stupid any more. And you especially don't want to give away the fact that you know less about your subject than the readers who chipped in 50 cents to bask in your knowledge of it.
More at Jeff Jarvis, (under "Shame on the New York Times"), who is characteristically infuriated by the "Times' " casual cruelty in exposing these decent Iraqis to death -- or worse -- for the sake of a journalistic thrill. I think his wrath is justified.
Even some of the saner liberals have given the "Times" the thumbs-down on this one. Praktike,, for instance:
Others weighing in with good observations include Belmont Club and Jim Hake, who has worked closely with the brothers at ITM.
But of course, Boxer's bungled hatchet job, not the news reported in ITM itself, is now the story itself, in the anti-war mainstream media.
Sarah Boxer reports (to use the term loosely) on Iraq the Model, a pro-US Iraqi blog. Some critics ask if it's a US-backed propaganda tool. Fair enough, good question, interesting aspect of understanding blogs, let's start digging ... or not.
Boxer talks to one blogger suspicious of Iraq the Model's independence, and reads some comments at his blog. She talks to a former Iraq the Model blogger, but doesn't get anything from him that supports the theory. She does not seem to have talked to either of the remaining Iraq the Model bloggers, or to any of the people who have supported them, including those who met them in the United States.
Mrs Cone.com, a journalist herself, was incredulous about the lack of reporting that seems to have gone into the NYT article, which appears above the fold in the Arts section. "The writer just parachutes into the blog world in December?," she said. "You would have to close your eyes to avoid running into Jeff Jarvis on this story."
The credibility of the Iraqi bloggers -- of any bloggers -- is a reasonble subject for journalism. The Times could have written a credible article on this subject. But it didn't.
The article's awfulness has more levels than a "Star Trek" chess set. It's journalistically embarrassing; the average reader of this blog probably knows more about this topic than Boxer does even after having written about it. When you are a reporter, part of your job is to look stupid -- when you ask the questions. By the time you write the story, you better not look stupid any more. And you especially don't want to give away the fact that you know less about your subject than the readers who chipped in 50 cents to bask in your knowledge of it.
More at Jeff Jarvis, (under "Shame on the New York Times"), who is characteristically infuriated by the "Times' " casual cruelty in exposing these decent Iraqis to death -- or worse -- for the sake of a journalistic thrill. I think his wrath is justified.
Even some of the saner liberals have given the "Times" the thumbs-down on this one. Praktike,, for instance:
Reading Iraqi blogs is a supplement to following the news, but more importantly it's a reminder that these are real people and not just pawns on a geostrategic chessboard. So I take the brothers at their word, and I'm glad there are people like them in Iraq who are enthusiastic about democracy.
What's wrong with that? At the same time, it's also important to remember that Iraqi bloggers--especially the ones writing in English--probably don't represent the country as a whole. Where are the religious Iraqi Shi'ite blogs, for instance?
Others weighing in with good observations include Belmont Club and Jim Hake, who has worked closely with the brothers at ITM.
But of course, Boxer's bungled hatchet job, not the news reported in ITM itself, is now the story itself, in the anti-war mainstream media.
