NBC’s Brian Williams on bloggers:
By on Apr 12th, 2007 at 5:21 pm
NBC’s Brian Williams on bloggers:
“You’re going to be up against people who have an opinion, a modem, and a bathrobe. All of my life, developing credentials to cover my field of work, and now I’m up against a guy named Vinny in an efficiency apartment in the Bronx who hasn’t left the efficiency apartment in two years.”
UPDATE: More Williams: “If we’re all watching cats flushing toilets, what aren’t we reading? What great writer are we missing? What great story are we ignoring? This is societal, it’s cultural, I can’t change it. We should maybe pause to think about it. Because like everybody else, I can burn an hour on YouTube or Perez Hilton without breaking a sweat. And what have I just not paid attention to that 10 years ago I would’ve just consumed?”
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i thought that was jake up against a guy named vinny in an efficiency apartment in the bronx...
April 12th, 2007 at 5:26 pmSo Brian has run across Vinnie eh? Bwahahahahaha
April 12th, 2007 at 5:28 pmWaaaaaaaa. Maybe if you tried being a journalist instead of a shill you wouldnt need to worry about a guy who gets more done in his bathrobe than you do with your "Credentials". Hack.
April 12th, 2007 at 5:28 pmand now I’m up against a guy named Vinny in an efficiency apartment in the Bronx who hasn’t left the efficiency apartment in two years.
Yep, that sounds like the Vinnie we know. Also, Angie, rachel, and about a dozen other aliases he/she uses.
April 12th, 2007 at 5:30 pmi withdraw my last post. that was unfair to vinny. sorry, v...
April 12th, 2007 at 5:30 pmWho needs a bathrobe, when you can blog "Al Fresca"? ;)
April 12th, 2007 at 5:31 pmAnd not only that but your arguement is losing to the Vinnies.... you know why? Because Vinnies are everywhere in the world, and you only see the world your way. Therefor I thank the internet for making your credentials worthless.
April 12th, 2007 at 5:33 pmFirst it was Jon Stewart, now its Vinnie. Get used to it Brian...
April 12th, 2007 at 5:33 pmMy name is Vincent.......got it? VINCENT.
April 12th, 2007 at 5:34 pmIf the bathrobe wearing 'vinny' is providing better information than Williams, what does that say about NBC?
April 12th, 2007 at 5:34 pmYo, Brian, when you have time to have an opinion with all that listenin' to Rush the Druggie? Ain't news supposed to be about facts, not opinion, anyways? Hey, sometimes I like to sit around without my bathrobe, too. he, he.
April 12th, 2007 at 5:34 pmJeez Williams,
Competition got you down eh?
April 12th, 2007 at 5:36 pmHe wants Tony Snow's job.
April 12th, 2007 at 5:37 pmVinny was Time's Person of the Year.
April 12th, 2007 at 5:37 pmAnd sadly, Vinnie is more informed. Sorry Vincent
April 12th, 2007 at 5:37 pmYeah, Brian. You got it exactly right. If you don't have the chops to go up against Vinnie in his efficiency, I guess your chops aren't all that impressive, are they?
April 12th, 2007 at 5:38 pmWell if you guys were actually doing your job, that is: researching and reporting the actual information.......you wouldn't have to worry would you? You guys just can't used to the idea that there are people out here who do not buy your WH fed b.s. You call yourselves journalists'.......really, when did they change the definition of what that represents? Oh, bet the prez did a signing statement regarding that as well and you just forgot to report that. Wake up 'journalists' .....we have and we have a voice and format whether you like it or not. Get over yourselves and do your job so we don't have to.
April 12th, 2007 at 5:39 pm" All of my life, developing credentials to cover my field of work, etc.."
(All your life learning how to spin, delude, obfuscate and bushsit)
Hey dude, you now have to compete with a lot of others who have spent all their lives developing skills to see clearly through the smoke and mirrors, and hear what is underneath your slick blather.
April 12th, 2007 at 5:40 pmGet used to it.
And just for contrast and some local color, I live in an adobe house out back of the beyond, this computor runs off of solar power, and I wear Carrharts when I post.
Sounds like he nailed Progressives bloggers.
April 12th, 2007 at 5:45 pmIf someone is going to report the truth to me,then I could care less if they are wearing a bathrobe or a diaper.
April 12th, 2007 at 5:46 pmawww poor Brian
April 12th, 2007 at 5:46 pmF*ck you, Brian Williams.
Here's an idea, do your f*cking job so the bloggers don't have to.
April 12th, 2007 at 5:47 pmSounds like he nailed Progressives bloggers.
Comment by Kevin
Then he nailed you too, Kevin -- since you're HERE.
Loser.
April 12th, 2007 at 5:49 pmI'm at work. Dressed very nice.
April 12th, 2007 at 5:51 pmHey Brian, you keep underestimating the netroots and citizen journalism at your own peril. The mainstream media is a joke and word is spreading fast. Sorry about your time spent developing those credentials, but you may be just a hair late. Maybe its not too late for you to catch the wave of the toobz. Putz!
April 12th, 2007 at 5:51 pmWell, he is correct. And that is awesome. One of the resounding problems of the media is the elitist stature and the ability to control the message.
Now, media "cred" more and more means squat.
April 12th, 2007 at 5:53 pmPardon me while I whip this out.....(gasp from audience).....little violin (music).
April 12th, 2007 at 5:54 pmAnd Vinny wears a sweat suit anyway.
If you weren't such a rightwing tool, then you might have some credibility.
Hating repukes daily.
I’m at work. Dressed very nice.
Comment by Kevin
Soooo, you're stealing from your employer by using company time to post comments here?
April 12th, 2007 at 5:55 pm[...] NBC’s Brian Williams on bloggers [...]
April 12th, 2007 at 5:57 pmBrian Williams doesn't even have a college degree. And in all those years of developing his "credentials", what story did Brian Williams ever break?
Take a look at the bios of those in the media; most of them never studied journalism at all, and few have a grasp of what news actually is.
April 12th, 2007 at 5:58 pm"I'm at work, dressed very nice...."
April 12th, 2007 at 5:58 pmAh, the decline of American productivity...but they sure look snazzy...
Willams sounds like someone else we know who abhors accountability.
The problem isn't "Vinny". The problem is Williams.
April 12th, 2007 at 5:59 pmhey bri bri, bring your french collar-wearin', republican-source-coverin, beltway smellin' ass up here to the bronx so i can kick it, old school.
and i'll live-blog about it.
that's the way we bronx bloggers roll.
April 12th, 2007 at 5:59 pmdang, we're pretty ruthless, aren't we Zooey?
April 12th, 2007 at 6:00 pmAs opposed to all the guys with a blow dryer and teeth whitener???
April 12th, 2007 at 6:00 pmI’m at work. Dressed very nice.
Comment by Kevin — April 12, 2007 @ 5:51 pm
kevin, I would like fries with my order.
April 12th, 2007 at 6:01 pm"...I think it's my duty to listen to Rush. I think Rush has actually yet to get the credit he is due, because his audience for so many years felt they were in the wilderness of this country. No one was talking to them."
April 12th, 2007 at 6:03 pm--Brian Williams
How does Williams know Vinnie is in a bathrobe? Nudge, Nudge, know what I mean, sport!
April 12th, 2007 at 6:04 pmBrian, Where the $uck were you when our moron in chief took us to war with Iraq based on lies ? This war has killed over 3,000 Americans over 25,000 wounded-not to mention over 100,000 Iraqis killed and wounded. You know what you can do with your credentials!
April 12th, 2007 at 6:07 pmI'm at work, dressed casually (as always), but I've already punched out.
Can I hope that Brian was trying to make a joke? Normally I like Brian, he has a good sense of humor. If it wasn't a joke, he's got to start learning that bloggers are everywhere, we're fairly normal human beings (for the most part), and we're not just some fungi growing in a basement. AND WE VOTE!
April 12th, 2007 at 6:08 pmDamnit, Vinnie, for the umpteenth freaking time, give me back my bathrobe. And this time, wash it first.
April 12th, 2007 at 6:09 pmdang, we’re pretty ruthless, aren’t we Zooey?
Comment by Raven
Just pointing out a little inconsistency in Kevin's world. :)
Notice he hasn't answered my question. Heh.
April 12th, 2007 at 6:09 pmIt's called democracy, Brian. Sucks when average people recognize and utilize their political power, huh?
April 12th, 2007 at 6:12 pmNotice he hasn’t answered my question. Heh.
Comment by Zooey — April 12, 2007 @ 6:09 pm
He can't-the drive up window has 6 cars backed up.
April 12th, 2007 at 6:13 pmDon't be so hard on Brian. After all, we only get about 10 minutes of actual news each evening from NBC, CBS, and ABC. The rest is commercials and fluff stories.
/snark
April 12th, 2007 at 6:13 pmWhat drives people like Williams crazy is that the guy named Vinnie is RIGHT, and he's wrong.
And wearing a bathrobe, having a modem, and being named Vinnie has nothing at all to do with whether you're right or wrong, now, does it?
April 12th, 2007 at 6:17 pmBrian could wear a bathrobe too just like Vinnie. Brian already gets a fake tan like Vinnie and combs his hair like Vinnie. I know because I am Vinnie.
April 12th, 2007 at 6:17 pmVinny in the Bronx? What about Al Coholic in Queens?
April 12th, 2007 at 6:18 pmWhat bathrobe. You guys got a bathrobe?
April 12th, 2007 at 6:18 pmNudge, Nudge, know what I mean, sport!
Comment by Fools on the Hill — April 12, 2007 @ 6:04 pm
"Say no more!"
April 12th, 2007 at 6:21 pmWhat channel is Vinnie on? I'll switch.
April 12th, 2007 at 6:22 pmMulti-tasking. try it.
You should ask your Mom first.
April 12th, 2007 at 6:25 pmWilliams use of the term "efficiency apartment" is nothing more than a derogatory phrase, an elitist code used by the privileged in attempts to lessen the validity of Vinnie and others like him because they happen to be poor.
April 12th, 2007 at 6:26 pmOr maybe up against me, a millionaire in a luxury house near the beach, who leaves everyday and then comes home and spends my free time watching your few minutes of stories ("packages"), sandwiched between more minutes of ads, and evaluating their content in comparison to the scores of stories in the major press publications from around the country and around the world. If only you were just up against poor Vinny. In your dreams. There is so much that you fail to do and to report, where do I start?
April 12th, 2007 at 6:28 pmYou sit behind a fake desk, wearing a tie all day, reading from a
April 12th, 2007 at 6:28 pmteleprompter. Vinnie doesn't have a support staff.
He comes up with those brilliant insights all on his own.
I'd put Billmon in William's place anytime.
What's weird is hat Vinny got everything about the Iraq War pretty much spot on. How'd Brian Williams et al do?
April 12th, 2007 at 6:29 pmThe bronx!? Vinny is from Jersey!
April 12th, 2007 at 6:29 pmThis quote proves again why Shepherd Smith will be the Cronkite of the 21st century. Practically alone amongst network anchors, he has the good sense to not take himself too seriously.
April 12th, 2007 at 6:30 pmSomebody is wearing his crankypants today!
April 12th, 2007 at 6:31 pmThank you, #53, NoManAnIsland.
April 12th, 2007 at 6:33 pmExcellent.
Multi-tasking. try it.
Comment by Kevin
It's called getting paid for work you're not doing -- you can look it up.
Multi-tasking, Kevin? You're talking to women. It's what we do.
April 12th, 2007 at 6:34 pmHow does he know I'm wearing a bathrobe? Damn NSA spying!
April 12th, 2007 at 6:36 pmKevin, does your shirt say "sandwich artist"?
April 12th, 2007 at 6:37 pm"developing credentials to cover my field of work" = "wearing custom-made suits and top-of-the-line ties".
April 12th, 2007 at 6:40 pmBrian--
Yep. You guys used to have a monopoly! And look where it got us. We are in such deep shit in Iraq it isn't funny. If only Vinnie had been reporting, instead of YOU!
April 12th, 2007 at 6:45 pmMulti-tasking, Kevin? You’re talking to women. It’s what we do.
Comment by Zooey
S--NAP!
That was awesome.
April 12th, 2007 at 6:45 pm"Vinny in a bathrobe" Very clever Brian. So let's see I read talkingpointmemo, atrios, altercation, firedoglake, kos, juancole and digby.
That's a Phd in American History, a Phd in Economics, another Phd in History, an attorney and a film producer, an advanced degree in, I believe, Political Science, a Professor of Modern Middle East History and Digby. I don't know anything about Digby's background but he's one of the best political writers on the planet bar no one.
What was that again about your credentials Brian?
April 12th, 2007 at 6:46 pmNow he's almost as big a douchebag as Hough Hewitt and Andrew Sullivan.
April 12th, 2007 at 6:47 pmSo, how many votes did you get Brian?
The same as Vinney, right?
So, see if you can do better, in your good suit and resume
April 12th, 2007 at 6:48 pmSince when is a hairstyle, a very, very bad hairstyle, "credentials"?
Jesus but these people are pompous.
April 12th, 2007 at 6:49 pmPSoTD: Don't forget the importance of doing his hair. I'm sure his idea of "developing credentials" involves a lot of time working on his hair. If Vinnie can see clearly what's going on in the world, think insightfully about it, and communicate it coherently, I don't care what his bathrobe looks like.
April 12th, 2007 at 6:51 pmWilliams and his colleagues, BTW, are 0-for-3 on that measure, unless you count going to a press conference, considering its contents not at all (not even for INTERNAL consistency), and regurgitating them verbatim.
So how many votes for wise man did you get, Brian?
And how many did Vinny get?
So go for it, prove yourself in your suit and tv camera
April 12th, 2007 at 6:51 pmSorta pitiful if he has to worry about a guy named Vinnie in a bathrobe, isn't it? Maybe he needs more education. Or a bathrobe.
April 12th, 2007 at 6:52 pm“sandwich artist�
Comment by Chris L
Shouldn't that be "sandwich artiste?"
Just sayin' :D
April 12th, 2007 at 6:54 pmI'm overweight and au natural in front of my keyboaord Brian..and if it wasn't for your total incompetence I would not feel the need to read the blogs for my news.
April 12th, 2007 at 6:56 pmSo multi-millionaire Brian can't beat a guy named Vinny in an efficiency apartment? It doesn't say much about Brian's skills as a reporter.
April 12th, 2007 at 6:57 pmUnfortunately Brian, the reality is that the majority of these posters are our employees who are supposed to be hard at work but they're messing around on the Internet blowing off the client, all on the company dime.
April 12th, 2007 at 7:03 pmI think Brian Williams is very overrated TV man.
April 12th, 2007 at 7:03 pmUPDATE: More Williams: “If we’re all watching cats flushing toilets, what aren’t we reading? What great writer are we missing? What great story are we ignoring? This is societal, it’s cultural, I can’t change it. We should maybe pause to think about it. Because like everybody else, I can burn an hour on YouTube or Perez Hilton without breaking a sweat. And what have I just not paid attention to that 10 years ago I would’ve just consumed?â€
Anyone out there with televison -- What was Brian Williams' top story tonight?
Dear Brain,
Walter Cronkhite had an impact on society and our culture, and we respect him. You could do that, if you wanted to -- if you cared more about journalism than you do about your paycheck, haircut, and suits.
April 12th, 2007 at 7:07 pmUnfortunately Brian, the reality is that the majority of these posters are our employees who are supposed to be hard at work but they’re messing around on the Internet blowing off the client, all on the company dime.
Comment by worst fears
Talk to Kevin, wf.
I'm nobody's employee. You know -- Liberal Agenda.
April 12th, 2007 at 7:08 pmBrian Williams doesn't even have a college degree.
April 12th, 2007 at 7:11 pmWalter Cronkhite had an impact on society and our culture, and we respect him. You could do that, if you wanted to — if you cared more about journalism than you do about your paycheck, haircut, and suits.
Comment by Zooey — April 12, 2007 @ 7:07 pm
Two things I remember about Walter:
- The newsclip showing him announcing to the world that Kennedy had died. Every time I watch it I start to cry.
- The clip that shows him getting excited when we first land on the moon. I think it's when Armstrong first steps foot on the lunar surface.
The mold was broken when Walter was created, IMO.
April 12th, 2007 at 7:14 pmIf we're watching cats flusing toilets we're probably missing Brian Williams talking about Anna Nicole's baby's daddy or something.
April 12th, 2007 at 7:20 pmI’d put Billmon in William’s place anytime.
I miss Billmon.
April 12th, 2007 at 7:23 pmTwo things I remember about Walter:
- The newsclip showing him announcing to the world that Kennedy had died. Every time I watch it I start to cry.
- The clip that shows him getting excited when we first land on the moon. I think it’s when Armstrong first steps foot on the lunar surface.
The mold was broken when Walter was created, IMO.
Comment by WC
I was too young to remember the first one, but every time I see it breaks my heart. But I remember the moon landing coverage as if it was yesterday. I remember my sisters and I dancing around our living room, and thinking that Cronkhite was probably wishing he could do that, too.
Great man.
April 12th, 2007 at 7:27 pmMr. Willimas conflates his eminence with his paycheck and is clearly feeling threatened. These are his credentials for his current job:
1) learning to read out loud;
April 12th, 2007 at 7:30 pm2) staying slim & trim (since the camera adds 10lbs) & tan ;
3) patiently waiting for Tom Brokaw to finish fellating The Greatest Generation (of bookbuyers);
4) not pissing off his superiors at NBC;
5) not laughing out loud when reporting on the bullshit of the Bush Administration.
Waiting for Katie Couric, BRIAN WILLIAMS, Charles Gibson and all the CNN anchors to be fired for a far far worse crime.
All the networks and anchors INTENTIONALLY IGNORED these MAJOR Stories:
* Downing St. Memos…smoking gun proof of the lies that sent us to war. The media had solid evidence of the worst crime in history and chose to ignore it.
* The media ignored the fact that thousands of minorities were scrubbed from the voter rolls in Florida in 2000, leading to victory for Bush.
* The media has never reported how deregulation has allowed them to create a monopoly of every outlet except the internet.
* Media never reported how close of a relationship Bush has with the Bin Ladins.
* Media never reports business stories from the point of labor, only management gets air time.
* Media didn’t bother to report that Habeas Corpus disappeared with the Military Commissions Act.
* Media never reports on Net Neutraility Issues.
* Media hardly ever mentions the Impending danger from our 9 trillion debt.
* Media never reported on the Freedom of Information Act being severely tightened up.
* Media never reported that Bankers LITERALLY wrote the Bankruptcy bill.
* Media never reported that oil industry execs secretly gather to write our energy policy.
*Media never reports on depleted uranium from munitions used in Iraq, which is a war crime.
* Media never reported that Choicepoint has been hired by Gov’t to illegally collect and organize all sorts of personal private data about you.
I repeat…When will ALL the Network anchors be fired?? Especially BRIAN WILLIAMS!
April 12th, 2007 at 7:51 pmThis is hysterical. "What great writer are we missing?" says the guy on TV. Passively watching TV is sooooo much more educational and informative and good citizenshippy than blogging or commenting. What a fool.
April 12th, 2007 at 7:55 pm[...] Williams (from Think Progress, via Atrios): If we’re all watching cats flushing toilets, what aren’t we reading? What great [...]
April 12th, 2007 at 8:19 pmThat must be a very comforting view, Brian, you typically arrogant media whore. You want to know what else you're up against, TV boy? There are tens of thousands of blogosphere denizens with advanced degrees in real fields like economics, political science, law, etc. who are much smarter than you are, pretty boy. Some of them may be wearing bathrobes, but they're all smarter than a smirking goddamn blowdried journalist. Don't make us laugh.
April 12th, 2007 at 8:39 pmWell Brian Williams, we can't all be a paid neocon whore like yourself.
April 12th, 2007 at 8:57 pmBrian, Brian, Brian:
April 12th, 2007 at 9:18 pmYou and virtually all of your fellow members of the "traditional" media have lost all of your credibility over the past 10 years or so. Today, you are simply irrelevant.
Deal with it. Or not. Nobody cares.
Yes, that's what Williams' "credentials" have enabled him to do--introduce "reporters" like Russert, O'Donnell, and Gregory to give us the Beltway Kool Kidz's take on the day, before moving on to introducing stories about Anna Nicole Smith, "broken borders", the unseasonable weather, and the latest missing young woman.
April 12th, 2007 at 9:50 pmA la Tevye, in Fiddler on the Roof, "Credentials!"
He reminds me of William Hurt's character in the movie with Albert Brooks, except that Hurt understood that it was his pretty-boy looks and his lack of ideas, certainly not his "credentials", that got him where he was.
Brian- Man, you're like Greggy in Animal House up against Blutarsky. Heh.
Just as Bluto called, "Food Fight!" you just know that Brian's calling, "Class War!"
Listen Brian: You will never make a good Vinny. Tough break.
April 12th, 2007 at 10:06 pmHey...douche bag brian...besides Vinnie and the whole blogasphere reading and laughing at your dumb ass comments....some of your colleagues might be reading this too and getting laughs at your expense. I wonder how many bath robe jokes you are going to hear tomorrow?
April 12th, 2007 at 10:14 pmPoor, poor Brian sucks at his job so what does he do, goes off on a rant against some folks who just so happen are better than he at reporting the facts. And they don't require fancy suits, limos and outrageous salaries to it done either.
Plus, they don't have the shitty attitude either, something Mr. Williams needs to rid himself of... quickly. What a maroon.
April 12th, 2007 at 10:14 pmWatch me make a tent with my bathrobe!
...
...oh sorry wrong internet :(
April 12th, 2007 at 10:46 pm"What great story are we ignoring?"
Indeed Mr. Williams, WHAT great story are we ignoring? I suspect that the problem is that Mr. Williams thinks that this about a "story", instead of trying to find the truth.
If not for the blogosphere, I wonder if ANY of the lies of the past six years would have gotten out.
April 12th, 2007 at 10:50 pmPretty Boy Williams: "All of my life, developing credentials to cover my field of work . . . "
What, it took him his whole life to get his teeth straightened and grow a head full of blow-dried hair?
Hard work, that.
April 12th, 2007 at 11:39 pmAnd Brian Williams and NBC News are the best of the network news departments. How's that for scary?
April 13th, 2007 at 12:06 amHEY, Brian Williams, IT'S TOO BAD I DON'T HAVE A WEBCAM, I WOULD SHOW YA ALL MY WARTS AND PIMPLES IN CLOSEUP ON MY HORRENDOUS CARCASE FOR YA EAGER PERUSAL, YA MSM Bush-TOADY-SAP!!!!!
April 13th, 2007 at 12:12 amWhile I was searching the internet for a "cat flushing a toilet," I came across this ...
----------------------------
"I think Rush has actually yet to get the credit he is due because his audience for so many years felt they were in the wilderness of this country," Williams told C-SPAN interviewer Brian Lamb in December 2004.
"I think Rush gave birth to the Fox news channel. I think Rush helped to give birth to a movement. I think he played his part in the [Republican] Contract with America. So I hope he gets his due as a broadcaster."
Williams added that when he worked in the White House press room, he would join with his "friend Brit Hume," now a Fox News anchor, in citing alleged examples of liberal bias by "you members of the perhaps unintentionally liberal media." [C-SPAN's Q&A, Dec. 26, 2004]
Having come of age in a Washington media environment where flattering the Right was a guaranteed way to protect your career, Williams understands that he helps himself by siding with conservative media figures.
----------------------------
Don't worry about "what I have not been reading as a result of the internet," Brian.
I have read:
A report from the U.S. Army War College.
The conclusions on page 7 of 84 were particularly prescient.
http://www.strategicstudiesinstitute.army.mil/pdffiles/PUB182.pdf
An interview of an exiled Shia Iraqi Ayatollah/Militia leader prior to the invasion conducted by PBS. Interesting how his thoughts proved to be accurate as well.
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/middle_east/iraq/resistance_2-25.html
I've been reading the thoughts of Norman Schwarzkopf. This guy's concerns proved to be relevant ...
http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A52450-2003Jan27?language=printer
Gee ... what else ... The Future of Iraq Project. That highly accurate work that Iraq expert Tom Warrick oversaw. The one the president ignored ...
Fiasco - by Thomas Ricks.
State of Denial - Bob Woodward.
You know, stuff that you - Brian Williams - should probably read. Stuff like that.
Okay off to search the net for entertainment. Maybe YouTube has a video of a cat flushing a certain news anchor down the toilet ...
April 13th, 2007 at 12:52 amwhat great episodes of gilligan's island have i missed? oh the humanity!
April 13th, 2007 at 4:45 amPoor, Brian Williams. Oh well, there isn't a talking head out there who really gets what's going on here. If they arrive at the revolution at all, it will be very late indeed. It doesn't really matter in the end. It can't be stopped. If anyone is genuinely interested in salient information on the important matters of the day, they can find it now. If the insipid vendors of watered down pap can't manage it, too bad. If the up and coming generation manages to survive the bloody tragedies they've been delivered into, todays anchors will have faded to their proper place in a daily talk show roster.
April 13th, 2007 at 4:53 amWhat exactly is it you think bloggers "get done" ?
You mean quote portions of media articles -- that anyone who loads yahoo news can read already -- that actual journalists have investigated, researched and reported and then express an opinion about it before giving a "hat tip" to another blogger who already wrote about the same thing 40,000 other bloggers did ?
Go have a look at memeorandum, or technorati or a google blogs search for a common verb. See how much bloggers are contributing that doesn't involve lifting from MSM journalists.
April 13th, 2007 at 6:05 amHow do we even know that Brian Williams is wearing pants?
April 13th, 2007 at 8:46 amBrain Williams, glad you are giving us advice about "watching cats flush toilets". We should be doing something constructive with our free time, just like you. We could be spending hours watching automobiles go around an oval , just like you do.
April 13th, 2007 at 8:55 amDo you have a favorite "number" pasted to your rear window?
AS A VINNIE, I AM OFFENDED.....BRAIN WILLIAMS SHOULDNBE FIRED FOR THESE INFLAMMATORY REMARKS!
April 13th, 2007 at 10:34 am'What exactly is it you think bloggers “get done†? You mean quote portions of media articles ... '
By Kilo
In part, yes. Like this one.
"You (bloggers) were named Time magazine “Person of the Year†on Saturday for the explosive growth and influence of user-generated Internet content such as blogs, video-file sharing site YouTube and social network MySpace.
“For seizing the reins of the global media, for founding and framing the new digital democracy, for working for nothing and beating the pros at their own game, Time’s Person of the Year for 2006 is you,†the magazine’s Lev Grossman wrote.
And yes, again. Like this.
Brian Williams, "Does a violent weekend make an Iraq quagmire?" Reuters (former Yahoo! link), September 23, 2003: "No one knows as yet and it took years for the United States to fully realise their predicament in Vietnam.
But then I look at this Feb. 2003 conclusion by the US Army War College - "An exit strategy (from Iraq) will require the establishment of political stability, which will be difficult to achieve given Iraq's fragmented population, weak political institutions, and propensity for rule by violence."
I am not aware of this info being cited by any mainstream media outlet. Definitely not prior to the invasion. If presented at all - certainly not frequently.
So I am asking myself - why is Williams still asking rhetorical questions about quagmire in September of 2003? Why not a sound bite like this?
"Prior to the invasion, the US Army War College - among others - cited concern that a successful exit strategy from Iraq may be difficult to achieve. Could this violent weekend be a sign that their concerns were well founded? "
MSM outlets like William's NBC News make editorial decisions on emphasis. There are some that feel this emphasis is sometimes politically biased. There are some who feel that the emphasis is ruled by the ratings game. There are some that feel that the emphasis is the result of lazy incompetence.
Bloggers offer an alternative to the editorial decisions made by the MSM in terms of emphasis.
Prior to the Iraq invasion - the MSM emphasis was on "being greeted as liberators." Clearly a ridiculous emphasis - not only in hindsight, but also at the time to anyone that did research. The fact that the info supporting the alternative emphasis may or may not be available on Yahoo or whatever is irrelevant.
April 13th, 2007 at 11:58 amAwwwww..Jeeezis!
April 13th, 2007 at 12:44 pmIt's Twilight time in Mouthpiece land...and I am just...enjoying the show...watching as they Twist and Turn...as they commit FURTHER acts of Sepuku...while a guy in a Bthrobe stands behind them with sword raised to lop off their heads in a final act of mercy...
This is SO obviously just pure rage on the part of Brian W. Rage at the very IDEA that FINALLY, there exists a means by which we may ALL produce, consume and debate issues WITHOUT his or the "NetWorks" interferance. He RAGES against the idea that he is no longer the GATE KEEPER of Discussion, that his part in the Unconventional Warfare, the professional "Predatory Coercion" that is the Main Stream Media...is..possibly...at an end.
Its FUNNY, and DAMN SATISFYING, that the "pundits" and Mouthpieces for the Corporate Fascist Theocracy are FINALLY getting their comuppance in the form of....The Bathrobed...ahhhh yes, yes...FINALLY...and it is here to stay...The Blog is..in FACT..the new delivery mechanism for News and Ideas and Discussion in America..and the Coercive force of the Right Wing Regime in America...is going the way of the Do-Do..and yet..no one BUT THE VERY PEOPLE GUILTY OF IGNORING ALL THE EVIDENCE...will mourn their passing...only they themselves will fret...and flail about..
That flushing sound is his relevancy going down the drain.
April 13th, 2007 at 1:09 pmAs someone who is in fact, at this moment, wearing a bathrobe, I have to wonder whether Williams is more offended by the fact that "Vinnie" has put his opinion out there, or the fact that he dares to even have an opinion?
Cheers,
RK Jones
April 13th, 2007 at 1:19 pmFirst It Was Spartacus, Now It's Vinnie
Actually, first it was Spartacus, then it was Atrios, now it's Vinnie.
I am Vinnie.
Get it, Brian???
Or are you just too damn credentialed to know WTF I'm talking about?
April 13th, 2007 at 6:37 pmI actually read it at the time it was released online. There are few better sources for war planning scenarios available to the general public.
Nor are you aware of it being cited or promoted on any blog at the time for the simple fact it wasn't. I couldn't find anyone who had read it in early 2004 when the wheels really fell off and the scenarios analysed in this brief became relevant.
Well no it's not irrelevant, since you just spent a bit of time telling us it was relevant that this analysis was missing from MSM coverage pre-war and post-invasion.
But at the same time it is just as relevant that it was just as missing from blogs coverage at the time. That relevance being that you were supposed to be distinguishing bloggers from journalists and you didn't.
So, like I said, this contribution of bloggers which overwhelmingly consists of nothing more than having the MSM dictate what stories they cover, then quoting small portions of MSM articles real journalists have produced themselves, while contributing nothing more than throwing in an opinion isn't exactly much, if anything at all.
And FYI, if you wanted to pick an issue where there isn't even the slightest chance of any competition between bloggers and journalists, war is that issue.
If you don't believe that's correct lets hear 3 cheers for Michelle Malkin's belated 2007 trip to Iraq in representing the entire blogosphere's contribution of original reporting to date on Iraq.
April 14th, 2007 at 1:52 amDidn't think so.
I think most people have missed the point Brian was making, and I think he was making a very valid point.
The common feeling from those who have embraced the new media is that they don't trust the MSM, claiming its "agenda driven".
Yet they willingly trust anything that comes from bloggers, simply because it comes from bloggers who, for the most part, happen to be saying what they want to hear.
Why should I trust any blogger simply because he doesn't belong to the MSM?? There are just as many high profile bloggers who are as agenda driven as journalists in the MSM.
The most prevalent complaint from conservative bloggers and their readership is about the unfair unbalanced negative reporting by the MSM on the war in Iraq.
So why is it that these voices don't seem to take issue with bloggers who go to Iraq and only write about the good news? Or take issue with bloggers who have never been to Iraq, and only present one side of the story, albeit the more positive side? How is writing only about the good news any more honest or fair or objective than what comes from the MSM?
And if one embraces that lack of objectivity from bloggers, than how can one complain about that same lack of objectivity from some journalists in the MSM? Read John Burns. That man has the best understanding of the complexity of our situation in Iraq; better than anyone in both the New and Old Media. Yet he is almost always dismissed by conservative bloggers because he works for the NY Times, and by liberal bloggers because the NY Times originally supported the Presidents decision to go to war.
Brian has a blog and he doesn't disdain all bloggers----he speaks very highly of Michael Yon:
"
"His dispatches are the most true to life." It s true - they are. But I suspect that what Brian also appreciates is that Mike reports the good, bad and ugly. If that is fundamentally what we expect from all journalists in a war zone, then why should we expect and/or embrace anything less from bloggers in a war zone?
Someone once wrote that if sunlight is truly the best disinfectant, getting the truth out can never be a bad course of action. I have no doubt that is yet another reason that Brian Williams embraces Mike Yon's blog. Keeping the Military honest and their moral compass on course is truly a noble cause, and one that Mike has embraced. Likewise keeping the old media honest and their moral compass on course was a noble cause that the new media elites had embraced, but, sadly, they seem to have dropped the ball when it comes to what's going on in their own backyard.
April 14th, 2007 at 9:58 pm