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Edited on Fri Jan-20-06 03:56 PM by SoCalDem
The recent WaPo reversal in email policy seems to point to a dilemma that is inflicting most media.
They see their viewership/readership dwindling and splintered, and most of their "senior staff" are neophytes at this "internet/IT thing". They know they have to get with the program and embrace it, but I doubt many of them knew what the ultimate outcome would be.
Until recently, only THEY had access to sophisticated archival research materials. They had copies of all their own, and rival articles, but unless someone was a paper-hoarder with a great memory and and even better storage system, the press was able to backtrack and even reverse course on issues with little consequence.
They can no longer do that because there are millions of everyday people who are fact-checking and editing them ALL THE TIME.
In the old days they could just discard a letter written in a fury, as some 'crackpot' reader. Most people would give up after wasting time and postage, but these days it's much easier and faster.
The ironic part is that THEY are the ones in a box now. They need advertisers, and every time they quash a story that casts an advertiser in a bad light, we can (and DO) call them on it. The media is truly between a rock and a hard place.. They know it, we know it and they KNOW we know it :)
Access to "news" is more difficult for most of them because of cost-cutting moguls who now own most of them. They rely more and more on "citizen journalism". They give little if any credit, but there is now a wedge we can use. If CNN is totally off-base, it doesn;t take a genius to figure out that MSNBC or even FOX would just love to have some "information" dumped into their laps..especially if it's well-sourced and already researched for them. Competition is so fierce,that most are thrilled to have something they can run with that;s newsworthy AND that hammers their competition.
We have become the "divorced child" , able to play one "parent" against each other for the attention we so desperately need.
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