Common Dreams isn't worthy of using for toilet paper.

[Drunken Irishman]

That website is the worst piece of trash this side of FOX News.

And yet it's allowed here because they're 'progressive'.

:rofl:

[Raine1967]

1. I like Common Dreams but like ANY media outlet

I always looks to see what others sources say. Are you speaking out in particular to one article?

That said, Common Dreams is mostly bloggers and editorials. I love bloggers (and editorials) , but I also do extra research to see if the story is on the up and up.
I like their Prog Newswire-- I like it because I can go there after I see media spin.

The biggest problem I'm seeing these days is what people are calling progressive these days. Progressive is the new elephant in the room. The term is being hijacked by Anti Obama people.

I wonder if they were ever For Obama or even Democrats, lately.

[Cha]

3. And, yet they're anti-progressive..no way

they're going forward. President Obama is the Progressive..he's the realist who is building the solid foundation while the others are only screaming about what they want right now.

There are those extremists on both sides who won't recognize reality because they're too busy wallowing in venom. The hypocrisy is glaring.

[RoyGBiv]

2. Not the worst ...

I mean, there is a place called OpEdNews. :)

Common Dreams has to be taken on an article by article basis. There's one from there floating around today that is pretty much crap ... had to go look it up ... the one about the Pentagon/military being the single worst polluting entity in the world or something based on its consumption of oil. I won't sit here and try to say that the military doesn't use a lot of oil in a way I consider wasteful. But no entity that uses oil could be the "single" worst contributor to global warming because the worst contributor to global warming is electricity production. Roughly, it's something like 80/20. (That's a dim memory, so don't quote me on that and please correct me if I'm way off.) So, the bit about the Pentagon becoming more energy efficient is actually a fairly significant thing.

But the article focuses on oil consumption, which of course is a problem, but not "the" worst problem. So the whole premise is wrong.

[Drunken Irishman]

4. Is Common Dreams user submitted crap?

There is a sports blog out there called BleacherReport.com and it's essentially all user-submitted stories.

There are some good ones. But a lot of it sucks because, frankly, a good number of society sucks.

[RoyGBiv]

5. It's both ...

They have a "newswire" that is internal, and then they have "reader submitted" stories, and as you say, a lot of that sucks because a lot of society sucks.

One of my main problems with the site is that they take on really complex issues and limit the pieces to 1000 words. That's not even a good college level essay.

[madfloridian]

17. You mean like what is written at DU...user submitted?

Let's see...think of all the blogs and websites that allow user submitted articles. Most of it much better and more honest than what we hear on TV.

People could say the same thing of this website, or Daily Kos. Or all the blogs and sites we refer to every day.

[Drunken Irishman]

18. Na...

Good try, though. Just because it's user-submitted does not make it better than MSM. The example I showed you, BleacherReport, totally lacks credibility because it allows anyone to post.

Example: Bob Stoops, the Sooners' head coach, was said to be going to Notre Dame by a BleacherReport article. No credibility there. No evidence. Just a lot of made up speculation.

That's the problem. Even on DU, you can come across stuff that makes absolutely no sense.

So while there are articles that might prove to be worth it - there are also articles terribly flawed and completely anti-Obama for no apparent reason.

Like the trash posted in the editorial part of DU saying Obama is the least effective leader since Hoover and, as they put it, a Do Nothing President.

Well anyone who suggests Obama has done nothing can't be taken too seriously.

[Political Tiger]

6. The problem with sites like Common Dreams

is that people take the crap posted on it as gospel. They think because it tells them what they want to hear then it must be factual when probably at least 8 out of 10 times the nonsense posted there is simply opinion posed as fact.

[sandnsea]

7. CounterPunch is the really awful one

Joshua Frank is never right about anything. I think he might have gotten a scoop or two at some point, and that's all it takes for some.

I don't find CommonDreams very useful either, but I sometimes get the two mixed up.

I don't really care much about pundits or bloggers. Anybody can go off the deep-end over some perceived slight or miscommunication. I have no idea what drives their opinions most of the time, except a paycheck and notoriety.

[RoyGBiv]

8. Yes, paycheck and notoriety ...

I read a blog post by an economist the other day who was having a bit of a spasm about how economic news it being treated even among his fellow professional economists. His name escapes me at the moment. He's someone I don't agree with a lot, but even in offer opinions I find problematic, I usually end up learning something ... sorta like how I feel about the historian Bob Krick. I disagree with almost every single one of the man's conclusions about various events and people, but I've learned a helluva a lot because of him.

Anyway ...

This economist went into a laundry list of the reasons why bloggers of all stripes are doing this, all of which boiled down to a burning need to be "first" to comment on an issue because it a) gets you more links which b) makes you more notable which c) makes you more money.

While focusing on that goal, they'd lost sight of their *job*.

So, he had made a pact with himself that he was going to stop doing it, damn the torpedoes, and avoid making vast conclusions based on one day's worth of economic news. He's apparently got a few other economists who plan on following him, at least partially, but participating in a long-form blog based on discussion of issues rather than pronouncements and witty sarcasm.

[jaxx]

9. I agree. It's one gripe after another.

I skip those articles now, they all sound the same, just a different subject.

[Cha]

10. But, how much fundraising are they

raking in from not acknowledging reality and only complaining about what isn't?

There are reasons to point out where we need to do better and legitimate gripes but not dealing in reality 100% of time significantly dilutes any real complaints they have..and that's not good for any of us.

[Jennicut]

11. I get my news and opinion from Wonkette. Sort of.

Better then Common Dreams or CounterPunch any day and funnier too.

[SemiCharmedQuark]

12. And considering Wonkette is 95% Truck Nutz, that's saying something

*fellow Wonkette reader here...though I really miss Jim Newell*

[Jennicut]

14. Oh, I will miss Jim too though Ken Layne is doing a good job.

[SemiCharmedQuark]

15. Ken's been cranky lately, IMHO

I need Newell's snark.

[Drunken Irishman]

13. Same...

[Name removed]

16. Deleted message

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

[Nicholas D Wolfwood]

19. Here's the funny thing...

Common Dreams, Alternet, Bill Maher, Thom Hartmann, FDL, even to some extent Daily Kos... They've all been this bad for a long, long time. The only difference is that there is no Republican administration to put in their crosshairs. Some people are just now realizing how fucking insane they all really are. Others have agreed with them for so long about Bush that they don't know that they should be adjusting now that they're wrong.

[Cha]

20. My theory is they're

fattening their coffers with sleazey red meat.

maher's just a jerk..hartmann wants to join teabaggers..really? They're better when they're pointing out the lying hypocrisy of the gNOP instead of trying to tear down a Democratic President with their throw away greenham.

dailykos, of course, has a lot of good diarists that I've read when they're linked to DU..I don't go to the site.

They had it so easy with bushcheney..now they have to speculate bc just presenting facts isn't good enough.

[Nicholas D Wolfwood]

21. You're 100% correct

Time to start calling them what they are - yellow journalists.