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February 10, 2005

Easongate Bloggers: Where Do We Go From Here?

Everyone knows me (I think), so I won't spend a lot of time talking about myself. It's good to be on the team, right in the center of the action, and I look forward to making a meaningful contribution to Easongate. Bill pulled together a great team.

Jim Geraghty raises an interesting point. What are our goals in the Eason Jordan mess? To boycott CNN and bring the "Most Busted Name in the Business" network down? To have the pleasure of reading and posting Jordan's resignation letter? In an e-mail to another blogger, Geraghty wrote: "I'm starting to think some bloggers A) want to "get" Jordan the way it was widely perceived that the blogs "got" Dan Rather and B) use this event to promote their blog and get media appearances, writing gigs, etc.   All of this is putting the cart before the horse. Job one is: Just what did Jordan say?"

In the interest of disclosure, yes, I want to see Jordan canned and yes, I'm trying to get media appearances, writing gigs, etc.

Geraghty offers some advice on what bloggers should do and a warning:

Unfortunately, I think the effort to get to the bottom of this has been hampered by  an eagerness to get to the full-throated denunciation of Jordan before the fact-gathering is finished.

Let™s be honest about the power of the blogs - it is great and was unimaginable in an earlier era, but it is limited.

And the blogs alone didn™t "get"� Dan Rather. Nor Trent Lott, or did they single-handedly bring the accounts of the Swift Boat Vets for Truth to light. At some point in all of these stories, members of what is sometimes too-easily labeled the mainstream media got interested (often hearing about them from the blogs), couldn™t resist their news-worthiness, and decided to write or broadcast about them. And by doing so, they brought the story to the attention of millions of readers and viewers who, alas, don™t read blogs every day.

For whatever reason, many, many mainstream media institutions have decided to take a pass on this story. Maybe they can™t sort out the "seven folks said one thing, Jordan and Sambrook say another"� contradictions. Maybe they think that only a bunch of guys in pajamas care about this. Maybe they sympathize with Jordan, and feel an element of "there but for the grace of God go I"� humility. Or maybe they want to work for CNN someday.

In the face of all this, it™s important that those of us who think Jordan™s comments deserve more coverage act  rational, balanced, evenhanded, and shed more light than heat.

He's right. It's good to have people like this around to keep things balanced. Since the video of the conference is not forthcoming, bloggers should focus on fact-gathering and tracking down as many witnesses as possible who heard what Eason Jordan said about our troops and the audience's reaction. There is strength in numbers, as the blog swarm has shown. Whether we're blogging in pajamas, suits, or I-don't-want-to-know-what-else, MSM has to know we're not going away. They missed out on breaking this story, but then again, why would they rat out one of their own?

Speaking of media missing out, read Hugh Hewitt's latest, The Blogs Beat the Bigs Again. If media types at this point still don't read blogs or know who Hewitt is, they have my sympathy.

Also see two new Eason Jordan articles: Miami Herald (registration req.) interviews Jordan and blogger/writer James Lileks writes in The Sun Herald.

Addendum: For the record, I also seeketh after the truth. ;)

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