[First published in AM New York]
BLOGGERS, OR AT LEAST THOSE of a right-wing bent, are crowing about having claimed the head of Eason Jordan at CNN, just as they feel they won Dan Rather‘s at CBS.
But maybe it’s not such a great trophy this time, and many on their side know it.
Fact is, Jordan certainly spoke out sloppily. But he did so not on the airwaves but in a supposedly off-record session of the World Economic Forum at Davos. And when he made his unsupported suggestion that 12 journalists’ deaths from American fire in Iraq were caused deliberately, he was quickly called on it – by Congressman Barney Frank.
Jordan back-tracked on the spot, and he made fuller amends afterward – but of course it was all too late.
The firestorm formed fast, ignited on the Forum’s own blog, www.forum blog.org, and the Wall Street Journal service, www.opinion-journal.com.
When the cyber-flaming built to a crescendo, aided by the predictable supporting cast of politicians, pundits and talk-radio hosts, CNN announced Jordan’s departure.But interestingly … to the Journal itself all this amounts to an empty victory. Well aware that its splenetic friends will accuse it of being part of “the lamestream media,” the WSJ Editorial Board now says “it does not speak well of CNN that it apparently let itself be stampeded“, and it decries the network’s lack of good judgment and sense of proportion in having Jordan leave.
THE ARCANE REALM (but politically sensitive, for sure) of climate analysis is the latest field for an angry dueling of blogs.
The much-popularized “hockey stick” graph, showing the world’s temperature suddenly rising upward in the 20th century after proceeding horizontally beforehand, was developed by University of Virginia climatologist Michael Mann. This neat graphic is now being challenged on mathemathical methodology grounds by two amateur Canadians, minerals consultant Stephen Mcintyre and economist Ross McKitrick.
The argument rages everywhere, from www.futurepundit.com to www.nomayo.mu.nu (“No Mayo” being an expression, its owners claim, of the plain, unembellished truth) … and the mainstream media will probably jump all over it now.
It provides more grist to the conclusion that Foreign Policy, the Carnegie Endowment for World Peace‘s influential journal, draws in a sharp article titled “Web of lnfluence.” Authors Daniel W Drezner and Henry Farrell say: “Whether you like it or not, weblogs are now a fifth estate . . . [which is] changing the landscape for journalists and policy-makers alike”.
FOR NEWS-HOST BOB EDWARDS, his new home, XM Satellite Radio, is proving very comfortable.
Bounced off National Public Radio‘s biggest show, “Morning Edition,” just months shy of his 25th anniversary, Edwards may now only be heard by 3 million, rather than 13.
But that small XM audience represents a doubling for the fledgling service since 2003.
And Wall Street is pronouncing postively on XM’s future. Share prices have leaped eight-fold in two years.
Edwards himself, employing his smoky brown voice to typical wry effect, is confident enough to tease his NPR replacements for being uptight. “They’re trying to be the news source of record. That’s very admirable,” he says … but he adds – just a touch condescendingly: “You can’t be loose if you’re worried how you sound with every word“.
