The Cup O' Joe Report 01/23/06: It's Wanker-rific

[Joeve]

This is a transcript of Joe Vecchio's daily "Cup O' Joe Report" podcast, availaible here and posted with the permission of the author.

A lot of bloggers who are angry about the way the so-called "professional" media treats the news, and rightfully so, are missing a greater point. The reason why they get away with what they get away with is because of their ability to reach an audience we can't touch yet: an audience that doesn't require a computer. AM radio and television are effective because they reach people in their homes and workplaces on a daily basis, and it doesn't require any special knowledge or equipment just to listen or watch.

If so many reporters are little more than wanks for the right wing, and they are, it's because they don't have any reason to change. They're well-paid and it's easier for them to spread propaganda than it is to do actual reporting. As more and more people get computers this will change, but there's still a long way to go before the blogosphere has the kind of real impact that the so-called "professionals" have. The reason why the right is able to manipulate the "pros" so easily is because unlike those of us on the left, they have a well-oiled machine already in place to do so.

I think it's important to keep harping on the pros and demand the truth. The fact that we annoy them is a good sign, because I think in the back of their minds they recognize the threat we are to their monopoly on information. Some of us, making no salary at all, even manage to do a better job than the pros when it comes to fact-checking. Imagine how we'd do if we could afford to do so full-time.

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