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Editorial The Internet

Forbes Goes After Bloggers 287

walterbyrd writes "In a recent article, Forbes bashes bloggers big time (forbesdontbug/forbesdontbug)." From the article: "Blogs started a few years ago as a simple way for people to keep online diaries. Suddenly they are the ultimate vehicle for brand-bashing, personal attacks, political extremism and smear campaigns. It's not easy to fight back: Often a bashing victim can't even figure out who his attacker is. No target is too mighty, or too obscure, for this new and virulent strain of oratory. Microsoft has been hammered by bloggers; so have CBS, CNN and ABC News, two research boutiques that criticized IBM's Notes software, the maker of Kryptonite bike locks, a Virginia congressman outed as a homosexual and dozens of other victims--even a right-wing blogger who dared defend a blog-mob scapegoat. " BoingBoing has a long post about the article.
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Forbes Goes After Bloggers

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  • by nightsweat ( 604367 ) on Friday October 28, 2005 @06:18PM (#13900481)
    I shudder everytime I get called into a senior exec's office and he's got a copy of the Forbes Christmas tech guide on his desk.

    "Says here that everyone is going to ARCnet. Why aren't we?"

    Grrrrrrrumble.
  • by jettoki ( 894493 ) on Friday October 28, 2005 @06:22PM (#13900524)
    Mass Media to the Masses: Please ignore the vulgar upwelling of free speech to your left. Look here, its Britney's baby photos! Lookit the photos! Thassa good boy!
  • by 8127972 ( 73495 ) on Friday October 28, 2005 @06:27PM (#13900572)
    ...... I'll quote them in my blog.
  • by Anonymous Coward on Friday October 28, 2005 @06:33PM (#13900646)
    JON: With more on the role of blogger's in today's media, I'm joined by Daily Show senior media correspondent, Stephen Colbert.

    STEPHEN: Jon, before we begin, I'd like to get something off my chest, before I get 'outed' by the bloggers.

    My real name isn't Stephen Colbert. It's Ted Hitler. No relation. Well, distant relation, two generations back. Directly. I'm Adolf Hitler's grandson. Anyways, it's out there. It's no longer news.

    JON: Uh, uh, wow. First of all, thank you for your honesty, Stephen...

    STEPHEN: It's Ted. It's Ted Hitler.

    JON: Ted, you're sort of 'old media,' you're an old media reporter. What are your thoughts on, in your mind, the role of these new media figures?

    STEPHEN: Jon, the vast majority of bloggers out there are responsible correspondents doing fine work in niche reporting fields like Gilmore Girl fan fiction, or cute things their cats do or photoshopped images of the Gilmore Girls as cats. That's great. Where I draw the line is with these "attack bloggers," just someone with a computer who gathers, collates and publishes accurate information that is then read by the general public. They have no credibility. All they have is facts. Spare me...

    JON: But, Stephen, I mean, to be perfectly...

    STEPHEN: Okay, I put myself through school as a Colombian drug mule. I put heroin in condoms and I smuggled them into the country in my colon. Okay? Fine. Post away, atrios.blogspot.com

    JON: Um -- getting back to the story, Stephen, the medium of the internet may be new but what bloggers do, as you just described it, is really in many respects what journalists do.

    STEPHEN: 'What journalists do', Jon? As a journalist, I think I know what I do. I'm not sitting at home in front of my computer. I'm out there busting my hump every day at the White House, transcribing their press releases, repeating their talking points. That's how you earn your nickname from President Bush. And when he stands at the podium, points at me and says 'You, Chowderneck - question?' Everyone knows its me. Ted Hitler.

    JON: But as long -- as long as the blogs fact-check, as long as these bloggers check their facts, why would you even object to this kind of political coverage?

    STEPHEN: Because it's not political coverage, Jon. They're reporting on the reporters. The first rule of journalism is 'Don't talk about journalism'. Or maybe that's Fight Club, but my point is this. These guys need to learn: you don't report on reporters. Nobody likes a snitch! If they've got to report on something, why don't they take some of that youthful moxie of theirs and investigate this administration. Somebody ought to! You would not believe the things they're getting away with!

    JON: But Stephen...

    STEPHEN: Fine, Jon. Three years ago I killed a panda. Ling-Ling! Or the other one. I can't tell them apart. In my own defense, in my own defense Jon, it was dark, I was drunk, and it was delicious. Sorry to ruin your scoop, Colbert_Killed_A_Panda.com

    JON: Now Stephen, like it or not, these bloggers have already gained a certain legitimacy.

    STEPHEN: Yes, Jon, and therein lies our only hope. For with legitimacy, the bloggers will gain a seat at the table, and with that comes access, status, money, power. And if we've learned anything about the mainstream media, that breeds complacency.

    Or, whatever.

    (The Daily Show, Feb 16, 2005)
  • by terrymr ( 316118 ) <terrymr@@@gmail...com> on Friday October 28, 2005 @06:48PM (#13900765)
    You complain about blog being a retarded word and then come up with portmanteau ??
  • by i7dude ( 473077 ) on Friday October 28, 2005 @06:52PM (#13900791)

    please register to read this article.

    thank you, now that we have your contact info, would you care to subscribe to our publication?

    no? are you sure?

    no!?! maybe you didnt hear me correctly, you'll actually receive our magazine, and get to read it!!!

    ok, well can we at least email you at a later time and see if you've changed your mind?

    anyway, our magazine caters to large corporations, many of which are souless. you know, the ones that neglect the very people they rely on to keep their heads above water. regardless, if we were to piss off said corporations, all of our advertising revenue would be lost...therefore, any indication that we support free speech would be bad. therefore, we hate people who speak up for themselves and those who have no voice. you should be ashamed of yourselves. maybe if you watched more funny television shoes, you wouldnt be so mean and critical...we hear that everybody loves raymond is nice.


    dude
  • by Anonymous Coward on Friday October 28, 2005 @06:59PM (#13900851)
    I work for Forbes.
    So I am really getting a kick out of most of these replies.
    Some of you guys are very good at making it sound like you know what you are talking about.
    But trust me.... You don't.
    I think you just want to make yourself sound smart, when in reality you dont
    know what you are talking about.
    This is how bad info gets passed around.
    If you dont know about the topic....Don't make yourself sound like you do.
    Cuz some Slashdotters belive anything they hear.
  • by gad_zuki! ( 70830 ) on Friday October 28, 2005 @07:10PM (#13900961)
    >Forbes, which caters to the very rich, is shocked and appalled that suddenly people who aren't rich are getting heard.

    Exactly. This article is best read in a Thurston Howell III [forbes.com] voice and perhaps should end with, "then let them eat cake!" [wikipedia.org]

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