ConfirmThem

By AndrewHyman Comments (2) / Email this page » / Leave a comment »

Earlier this month, Joseph Rago of the Wall Street Journal wrote an op/ed titled "The Blog Mob: Written By Fools To Be Read By Imbeciles." Naturally, the blogosphere did not react very agreeably to Mr. Rago's criticism, but it did react very amusingly. Anyway, Hugh Hewitt grilled Mr. Rago on Tuesday about all this, and here's the part I liked best:

HH: All right. In the nomination of Justices Alito and Scalia, also one of the most dramatic developments in this country in the last 18 months, who took the lead in reporting on...
JR: Alito and Scalia?
HH: Excuse me, Alito and Roberts.
JR: Right.
HH: Who took the lead in reporting on who they were, what they had done, and the dynamics of their confirmation?
JR: I mean, it was a huge story. Everybody was covering it.
HH: But were bloggers bringing reporting to that process?
JR: Yes, definitely.
HH: And was that reporting as good as that which you found in the mainstream media?
JR: In some cases yes. In some cases, much worse.
HH: Are you familiar with Ed Whelan at National Review?
JR: Yes, I am.
HH: How about the blog www.confirmthem.com?
JR: It rings a bell, but I can’t say I’ve looked at it recently.
HH: Okay, it’s a matter of, I think, undeniable fact that the most comprehensive coverage of the actual legal issues raised by the committee, and by the witnesses, was done on the blogosphere, because of questions of space. You know, you guys are limited by column inches, and the blogosphere isn’t. And they just outshined tremendously there. Do you disagree?
JR: I mean, I don’t think I disagree, but I do think that...again, I do think that there are some good elements to the blogosphere, but there’s also a lot of negative. And it seems a little bit silly to sort of have this triumphalism about the blogosphere at the expense of what everyone calls the mainstream media, without looking at any of the consequences.

I'd like to say that I haven't looked at the Wall Street Journal recently, but actually it's a great newspaper, and I bought a copy a few days ago. :)

Hat Tip: Patterico.