I actually wrote much of this in a response to a post on the New York Times' criticism of bloggers' supposed obsession with trivialities. Was Talking Points Memo obsessed with trivialities when it uncovered the illegal circumstances surrounding the firing of US attorneys?
The popularity of blogs like Daily Kos and Talking Points Memo stems from the fact that many of us tired of scouting corporate-run newspapers and newscasts for fact-based news.
Too often, the mainstream media demonstrates its obsession with trivial absurdities--who can forget its fixation on whether Gore deliberately switched to "earthy" colors or Wesley Clark's argyle sweaters--while ignoring things that really matter. How many stories and newspapers obsessed about whether Gore was a liar? Compare that to the number of stories describing the actual minimal role of a Texas governor or Bush's glaring disinterest in clemency petitions as governor or his possibly illegal fiscal misconduct as co-owner of an oil company. Recent stories from the mainstream media critical to our understanding of the world include whether Obama's hair is graying as a result of becoming president. Whoop-de-do. Except for the BBC, I have heard nothing in the mainstream newscasts about the recent indictment of Sudan's current president by the International Criminal Court.
Instead of educated, intelligent people who present factual analysis or substantiated opinions, the mainstream media shoves political representatives in front of us, whose words can be predicted before they open their mouths. As a recent example, more than one offered extensive coverage of Rush Limbaugh's CPAC speech. How does this fulfill their duty to keep us informed? Was that somehow more worthwhile than, say, the truth that many of American's banks are insolvent if you revalue their assets at their true, current value? Apparently so.
The media--and this does not just apply to Fox or Murdoch-sponsored rags--takes what they are fed by these political operatives and regurgitate it for our consumption without ever questioning its nutritional value. This is how we end up with the "meme" of the day, which is Obama "breaking his promise on earmarks." To find the facts, namely that Obama never made such a promise, we must rely on media sources whom I would posit are born from the blogosphere, like Keith Olbermann or even John Stewart. Or you must turn to blogs like Daily Kos.
Yes, the blogs have their share of chaff. We have our stories on OctoMom and Bristol Palin. But we also have a large number of intelligent writers who dig for the facts available in government documents, recorded statements, etc. This is job the media does not feel obligated to "waste" the time doing.
How often have you watched CNN and seen one of the usual political robots repeating their programmed talking points, and you recognize that they are misstating facts, but the "journalist" conducting the interview appears less informed than the average 5th grader and never calls them on their bullshit, likely because the words never scroll across the teleprompter?
When the mainstream media is forced to face the music for their poor reporting, they pull a WaPo, which vociferously defended its editorialists' decision to deliberately skew facts in an effort to mislead people into believing his perspective on climate change. How can we trust this sort of "journalism"?
The mainstream media focuses more on how it looks more than its substance. It has developed anorexia, convinced that it is still fat with real news when in reality, it is starving for it.
We watch as the once credible media bastions reshape themselves to counter screaming conservatives who accuse them of liberal bias rather than taking the Walter Cronkite or Edward Murrow path of simply looking for the truth and reporting it, critics be damned.
Meanwhile, blogs like Talking Points Memo embrace the principles espoused by these journalistic lions. While they have biased viewpoints, they never ignore facts in an effort to mislead people. They present even those facts that run counter to the position they hold. That is journalistic integrity.
Newspapers are dying. They are searching for someone to blame for their deaths. They need to accept responsibility for their own failure and stop pointing fingers at those who are simply no longer willing to fork over 75 cents a day to be misled or titillated rather than educated.
You know something is wrong with the mainstream media when a comedy show like the Daily Show does a better job of getting the truth across to its viewers than the "news" shows on CNN.