The Internet, The MSM: The Migration of Failure

Times' Writer Discovers The Internet:
"Professional Journalists" Seek Foundation Funding
Instead of Customers Seeking News

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"They still don't get it, and never will. That's why when their stock value reaches zero, we'll still be here laughing at their demise."
--JammieWearingFool on the New York Times

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Six Hundred Visitors a Day
--and All the Pixels You Can Eat

RICHARD PÉREZ-PEÑA of the New York Times ($7.00 NYSE, down from $21.14 a year ago) turned on his computer and discovered a non-threatening form of Internet--websites that are run by refugees of failed newspapers.

As America’s newspapers shrink and shed staff, and broadcast news outlets sink in the ratings, a new kind of Web-based news operation has arisen in several cities, forcing the papers to follow the stories they uncover.

Here it is VoiceofSanDiego.org, offering a brand of serious, original reporting by professional journalists — the province of the traditional media, but at a much lower cost of doing business. Since it began in 2005, similar operations have cropped up in New Haven, the Twin Cities, Seattle, St. Louis and Chicago. More are on the way.

Their news coverage and hard-digging investigative reporting stand out in an Internet landscape long dominated by partisan commentary, gossip, vitriol and citizen journalism posted by unpaid amateurs.

The San Diego site gets around 18,000 visitors a month--about 600/day--but it's run by "professional journalists" as opposed to "unpaid amateurs", so it's worth some ink in the NY Times. As Jammie Wearing Fool observes ['This Is the Future of Journalism']

Let's see: Partisan commentary, vitriol and gossip? Sounds like your average day on the Times op-ed page. Or, in some cases, what they run on Page 1.

Well, does the Times ever bother to wonder whether some of us also have newspaper experience? Or is that too much for them to comprehend?

Most of us aren't doing this to pay the bills. We're doing it as a counter to the relentless bias brought to us by outlets such as the Times. And over the past several years, those whom they dismiss as unpaid amateurs sure seem to break more news than established outfits.

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Bloggers Do the Jobs
American "Professional Journalists" Won't Do

It's not that the Mainstream Media--The NYT is the poster child for floundering fishwraps--can't do their jobs.

It's that they have refused to do their jobs.

MSM news customers obviously have tired of paying for psuedo-intellectual socialist drivel masquerading as "news": Times' customers have deserted the paper in droves. In response to declining circulation, the NYT has continued the same policies; NYT customers have continued their exodus.

There's certainly a demand for liberal, left-leaning, pompous, arrogant, sniveling newspapers in America.

Not just a very big one, apparently.

It's noticed that the "professional journalists" hope to eventually finance their Internet operation by one of the Left's favorite funding mechanisms: foundation grants.

That figures.

When their journalistic enterprise fails to attract real, live paying customers, their impulse is to ask some foundation to pony up some money to insulate them from the effects of a marketplace that is a regular "professional journalist" whipping boy.

If the Ford Foundation can't spare a dime, maybe these Brave New Journalists can get in line for some bailout moolah.

- - - - -

In the Times' mind, it's the medium, not the message that's at fault.

We would disagree.

MSM "Professional journalists"--whether they're pounding the pavement in search of another gig or pounding the keys posting on the Internet--will likely have trouble attracting new customers. There's only so much demand for their product and it's more than met by ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, TIME, Newsweek, NY and LA Times, MSNBC and the Washington Post.

MSM "professional journalists" on the Internet?

Not a lot to get excited about.

Really.

After all, paraphrasing the Times' Fab Fave 2008 candidate: you can put lipstick on the NY Times, but it's still the Times.


by Mondo
image: dbkp

Obama Internet Savvy: Anti-Palin YouTube Video Linked to Obama

Obama Campaign's Internet Savviness
Savvy = Dirty Tricks
Anti-Palin YouTube Video Only the latest Instance





Barack Obama has proved that he is the most Internet savvy of the two major candidates--if using the Internet to shut down criticism and spread slander is the measuring stick.


First came the Obamabots, shutting down blogs who criticized the candidate that PUMAs (Party Unity My Ass) insist was "selected, not elected". [Google, Blogger, Obama: Obamanation Shut Down My Blog!]

Next, spam attacks. [Blog Shutdowns: Spam Attack from IPs Assigned to barackobama.com].

Hope, Change, & Lies: Orchestrated “Grassroots” Smear Campaigns & the People that Run Them

Then, a YouTube video is posted by "amateurs" that is traced back to a PR firm with ties to Obama. [Also: Bloggers sniff out anti-Palin astroturf campaign– and the cover up begins].

As soon as The Jawa Report released its post linking the PR firm to the slanderous Palin videos, the videos disappear from YouTube and the account is closed, ala John Edwards' Rielle Hunter-produced webisodes.

From "Hope, Change, & Lies: Orchestrated “Grassroots” Smear Campaigns & the People that Run Them":

It is also likely that the PR firm was paid by outside sources to run the smear campaign. While not conclusive, evidence suggests a link to the Barack Obama campaign. Namely:

* Evidence suggests that a YouTube video with false claims about Palin was uploaded and promoted by members of a professional PR firm.

* The family that runs the PR firm has extensive ties to the Democratic Party, the netroots, and are staunch Obama supporters.

* Evidence suggests that the firm engaged in a concerted effort to distribute the video in such a way that it would appear to have gone viral on its own. Yet this effort took place on company time.

* Evidence suggests that these distribution efforts included actions by at least one employee of the firm who is unconnected with the family running the company.

* The voice-over artist used in this supposedly amateur video is a professional.

* This same voice-over artist has worked extensively with David Axelrod's firm, which has a history of engaging in phony grassroots efforts, otherwise known as "astroturfing."

* David Axelrod is Barack Obama's chief media strategist.

* The same voice-over artist has worked directly for the Barack Obama campaign.

The Obama campaign is Internet savvy. This would have been completely overlooked by the investigative geniuses in the MSM. Readers will recall the MSM were the "news" organizations that averted their collective eyes for ten months on the John Edwards Scandal.

The MSM then conducted an eleven day, 24/7 SlopNewsFest, where "reporters" and pundits interviewed each other about why the story wasn't reported for ten months. The hand-wringing-palooza included plenty of references to "professionalism", "ethics" and "judgment"--none of them sourced.

Big Media, then satisfied it had thoroughly covered itself not covering the story, promptly fell back asleep--with the exception of ABC News.

Jawa's Report reads like a novel. This may be the best thing you read all week--which is saying something at a time when news comes fast, furious and faster.

Dr. Shackleford also hands out plaudits to bloggers who joined in the investigative effort:

Thanks to Jane & Stable Hand who did a lot of the Googling on this one, the Jawa team for input, and our legal division for extensive advice. Also thanks to Dan Riehl and Ace for input and help with drafts; and Patterico for putting together the bullet point summary.

It's likely the NY Times won't have anything about this: it's too busy with its 53rd daily anti-Palin article linking Bristol Palin's boyfriend to tooth decay.

Ditto for the Left Blogosphere: they're occupied publishing family pictures taken from Palin's private emails and ginning up reasons why that's important.

Thank heavens for the blogosphere: where those with computers and an Internet connection may stay informed.

One more sign of the Obama campaign's Internet attack tactics:

The Obama campaign has put some major time and money behind causing trouble on conservative blogs. The idea is to have Obama supporters disguise themselves as conservatives and then bring us down with their faux concerns.

Remember, our own Smellybeef? He arrived over the weekend pretending to be a McCain campaign worker from Wisconsin and expressed concerned over the direction of the McCain campaign, worried that certain McCain decisions proved “the wheels were coming off” our chances.

Every time that an Obama supporter is tied to a dirty trick--whether it's publishing Sarah Palin's private emails, shutting down blogs critical of Obama or pushing out a slick PR firm-produced video under the guise of an amateur--Barack Obama decries it.

And then, they continue.

Once might be a surprise; twice, a coincidence; more than twice, it's a pattern.

Our prediction: This won't the last you hear from a campaign that seems intent on attacking the Internet messengers who carry the wrong message.


by Mondo
image: RidesAPaleHorse

Beijing Olympics: China's Great Fake Walls

The commentators all breathlessly described how busy China became getting Beijing "ready for the Olympics".

And China's communist leaders sure were busy!

After all, arresting dissidents and potential protesters isn't done in a day, and heaven knows it takes time to shut down factories and restrict residents' driving to clear up the oily smog that obscures Beijing on a normal day.



Today, Ed Morrissey included the pic at the top of the page in "Obama: Know where it’s really great to do business?".

"Unfortunately, most of what the cameras see is just a facade, as Dale Franks points out at Q&O:"

Perhaps, the facades in the top pic were built by the arrested dissidents?

Better not dwell to much on that possibility.

Might get accused of being a conspiracy theorist again.

by Mondoreb
image: top-Hot Air; bottom-RidesAPaleHorse

Saudi Girl Burned Alive for Converting to Christianity

DBKP did a survey that was published on July 9th 2008 regarding the the construction of Christian churches in Muslim countries. In discussing Saudi Arabia, it was noted "No Christian churches are allowed. The open practice of Christianity is punishable by death." (Survey: how Easy is it To Build a Christian Church in a Muslim Country). Therefore, when the following headline from Middle East News popped up on a newscan, it was routinely bookmarked for referral to the editor to see if it was worthy of an Update.

Saudi Mutaween Cuts Out His Daughter’s Tongue, Then Burns Her Alive

Then the story was wiped; erased from the Middle East News. The page did not suddenly go down: it was simply blank.
Fortunately Weasel Zippers (Saudi "Honor Killing": Muslim Father Cuts out Daughters Tongue, Burns her Alive for Converting to Christianity...... ), a blog that emphasizes jihad and the idiosyncrasyies of Islam had copied the story. So here is the horrendous story:


A Saudi man working with the Commission for Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice recently killed his daughter for converting to Christianity.

According to sources close to the victim, the religious police member had cut the tongue of the girl and burned her to death following a heated debate on religion.


"The death of the girl sent shockwaves, and websites where the victim used to write with various nicknames have allocated special space to mourn her, while some others closed temporarily in protest.

According to the Saudi Al Ukhdoud news website, the victim wrote an article on the blog of which she was a member under the nickname "Rania" a few days before her murder.

She said that her brother found some Christian articles written by her as well as a cross sign on her computer screen.Since then he started to insult her and blamed the Internet for pushing her to change her religion.

The "Free Copts" website published a message which it received from a friend of the victim, revealing that the killer is in police custody and that he is being investigated for an honour related crime.

Saudi religious scholars have frequently warned against the dangers of Christian internet websites and satellite TV channels which attract Muslim youngsters to change their religion.

They decreed that watching these channels or browsing these websites which call for conversion to Christianity by various means is against the teachings of Islam."

Another full account was reported in The Gulf News, which appears to have produced the first English translation of the sorry tale. Other than once again demonstrating the misogynistic, bigoted barbarity and sheer madness that characterizes Islam, we wonder if these events portend something else: a realization by Muslims that the rest of the world reads or views Islamic behavior with disbelief and disgust. That 'with the Internet, the Mainstream Media blackout on Muslim antics has been bypassed. That the desperate pleas of those that live under this barbarous cult can now occasionally be heard and Islam exposed for what it is, instead of the Religion Of Peace nonsense espoused by Washington and London.

In other words, are some Muslims embarrassed by what they have become?

by pat
images:
* faithfreedom

sources:
http://forums.sulekha.com/forums/coffeehouse/Saudi-Mutaween-Cuts-Out-His-Daughter-s-Tongue-Then-Burns-Her-Alive-864347.htm
http://archive.gulfnews.com/articles/08/08/12/10236558.html

John Edwards Affair: Mystery Editor Continues to Edit Rielle Hunter Wikipedia Page

Who is Editing Out Unpleasant Details From Wikipedia's Rielle Hunter entry?

Who is ALJDJDD?



Mystery Continues


While working on this morning's John Edwards Scandal: Who in the Edwards’ Campaign Ran the Cover Up? UPDATED, a note was received from DBKP's crack research department.

Our mystery Wikipedia editor came back just now And made these changes to the Rielle Hunter article. Basically removed all of the negative info about the father, inserted the father's birth year of 1934, and, most interestingly, cleaned up the info about Hunter's small film roles, deleting a reference to roles in the films Overboard and Deadly Addiction, but leaving the reference to the 1991 Denzel Washington film Ricochet.

One can only type one story at a time and this one got pushed back. In the meantime, about three hours ago, we were notified of another interesting development:

Catherine Yronwode had an interesting theory about our mystery WIkipedia editor that she explained here - that "ALJDJDD" may be an acronym for "Alias Lisa Jo Druck, James Druck's Daughter".

Among other things, yronwode posits a possible identity for the mystery editor:

User ALJDJDD, who claims in her edit summaries to be James Druck's daughter (ALJDJDD may be an acronym for "Alias Lisa Jo Druck, James Druck's Daughter"), has repeatedly deleted from the Rielle Hunter page all mention of James Druck's involvement in the horse-murder insurance fraud scheme, incluing the murder of Lisa's own horse, for which we have numerous reliable msm sources now. (Apparently ALJDJDD does not believe the confession of the FBI informer and horse-killer Tommy Burns, upon which all the sources are based, and prefers to think that her father is innocent of the crime or that no crime was committed.)

We have no proof that ALJDJDD is who she says she is (i.e. one of the four Druck daughters), but she has added a bunch of unsourced material, such as the year of James Druck's birth, the location where Lisa Jo Druk and Kip Hunter were married, and some IMDb-sourced data about Lisa Jo Hunter that we had previously overlooked due to the subject's several name changes.

We touched on the edits being made yesterday at the Rielle Hunter Wikipedia page, in "John Edwards Scandal: Rielle Hunter Editing Her Own Wikipedia Page - UPDATED".

[UPDATE NOTE 12:55 EDT - Our research indicates that "a closer look at the change made to the article by that user - in addition to deleting the information about the father, the editor changed the place of marriage to Kip Hunter from New York state to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. Not sure if this is true or false."

We will see.]

We also got a note that Rielle Hunter, born Lisa Jo Druck, has three other sisters than Melissa, who asked John Edwards on Saturday to "Stop Bad-mouthing Rielle Hunter - UPDATED".

According to The Palm Beach Post (see the last paragraph).

So there are several suspects for editing the Wikipedia article. The article also explains the "convicted criminal" part of the edit summary you quoted in your article.

The Palm Beach article, "Dad of Edwards' mistress had dark side" recounts a grisly tale of horse execution, fraud, insurance money and prison sentences. It's not very complimentary; one can see why a family member might want this information edited out of Wikipedia.

"They loved money! All of them watching out for themselves."

That's the Florida family environment fallen presidential wannabe John Edwards' mistress grew up in. So says Jupiter commodities trader Steve Smith, a longtime live-in boyfriend of one of Rielle Hunter's three sisters.

The article quotes "Jupiter commodities trader Steve Smith, a longtime live-in boyfriend of one of Rielle Hunter's three sisters" [designer, Jennifer Druck].

The Palm Beach article cites Sports Illustrated as a source.

In a 1992 cover story, Sports Illustrated named Druck an early figure in a frightening trend: The killing of show horses and ponies for insurance money.

IS Rielle Hunter editing her own Wikipedia page? Or, is it another of the Druck sisters?

Again, time will tell.

by Mondoreb
image: wikipedia

John Edwards Scandal: Copying Continues As Rielle Hunter Web Info Keeps Vanish

Info Keep Disappearing
Readers Keep Copying





Simon Scowl, at Deceiver--that name's popping up quite frequently over the last month--reports on what's rapidly becoming a Deceiver specialty: disappearing websites with information about Rielle Hunter. [Yet Another Rielle-Related Site Vanishes].

Yesterday the Newark Star-Ledger tried to talk to Rielle Hunter’s old business partner Mimi Hockman (pictured), as I recommended somebody do almost two weeks ago. They approached Hockman at her home in New Jersey, but she wasn’t too cooperative. Which isn’t surprising at this point. Nor is this (emphasis mine):

Deceiver's work on another vanished website was part of our story on disappearing Rielle Hunter information as the start of the Edwards' campaign cover up, John Edwards Scandal: Who in the Edwards’ Campaign Ran the Cover Up? UPDATED.

Thankfully, it's harder for the information to vanish now: a small army of readers are now aware of the problem and are screen-saving, copying and downloading Net info before it disappears--including Deceiver readers and our own Research Dept.

We'll call it: The Forces of Darkness vs. The Forces of Light, Internet Rielle Hunter Info Division.

by Mondoreb
image: Deceiver

Blogistan: Are You Part of the Internet Underbelly?

BLOGISTAN
Babba Zee
Outraged Spleen of Zion



"Those who counsel avoidance of blogs are no different from those who advise against frequenting dark, crime-ridden neighborhoods. There may be bargains to be had in such locales, maybe even a good library or pizzeria. But they are scuzzy places to spend time in."
--Rabbi Avi Shafran, Blogistan


Are you a member of the easiest cult in the world to join? Are you part of the Internet's underbelly?

One of the signs of a cult is the constant search for enemies: someone or something to rally the members of the cult against; something or someone on which to concentrate their energies.

Some blogs--particularly those that concentrate on conspiracy theories--appear based on the premise of finding a dark enemy for their members to combat.

Outraged Spleen of Zion reprints Blogistan, an informative piece by Rabbi Avi Shafran on the darker side of the Internet. It raises some interesting points.

No one knows exactly why the Internet appears to bring out the worst in people, but there is little doubt that it often does. And the cloak of anonymity seems to unleash truly dark, ugly alter egos.

Although the post isn't very complimentary of the Blogosphere in general, many of the points it raises are spot-on.

Perhaps even more disturbing is the apparent gullibility of so many visitors to those blogs, who, from their own postings, seem ready to swallow any accusation or character assassination, as long as the charges are sufficiently salacious or forcefully asserted. Some of the many adulatory comments posted on offensive blogs may have been planted by the blogerrai-meisters themselves, but many certainly seem to be from other citizens anxious to join in the fun.

The post is easy to read and breaks down the problems of the Blogosphere into easily-digested chunks.

Are the blogs you visit part of Blogistan?

Visit, read and decide for yourself.

ALSO at DBKP.com:
Blogistan: Are you part of the Underbelly of the Internet?

by Mondoreb
image: Outraged Spleen of Zion
Source: Blogistan

Attention Conspiracy Theorists: Iran is still on Line

Call the FBI….Call Homeland security… Call the X Files….call ArtBell…
A fourth cable has been cut, this time off the coast of the UAE, disrupting communications in Qatar.

Qatar Telecom (Qtel) said on Sunday a cable was damaged between the Qatari island of Haloul and the UAE island of Das on Friday, the fourth reported in the Middle East in less than a week….

Parts of the Gulf Arab region were plunged into a virtual internet blackout on Wednesday when two undersea cables were cut near Alexandria, on Egypt’s north coast….

The situation was made worse on Friday when Flag, part of India’s Reliance Communications, revealed a third cable, Falcon, had also been damaged off the UAE coast.

In the meanwhile, conspiracy theories abound, since some reports say that along with Egypt, Saudi Arabia and India, Iran’s internet has been cut…and traffic is down to zero according to this site: LINK is the daily internet traffic report and indeed shows Iran at zero today…but it is also zero for Cali, Colombia and for Florida.

So is it true?

But the English language Iranian news, IRNA, doesn’t have any reports about it…

The IHTribune has noted the internet problems, but doesn’t mention Iran. However, they do worry that the incidents show how underseas cables that concentrate internet and telephone lines are vulnerable to damage, whether it be an errant ship, an earthquake, or sabotage.

Nonsense, replies the jihadi linked Uruknet. Iranian cable isn’t down…

A more reliable report from ArabBusinessNews says:

It is not clear how badly Iran’s internet access has been affected by the cable breaks.

The Iranian embassy in Abu Dhabi told ArabianBusiness.com that “everything is fine”, but internet connectivity reports on the web, citing a router in Tehran, appear to indicate that there is currently no connection to the outside world.

No one at the US embassy in Abu Dhabi was immediately available to comment.

So is the internet out, or slowed down, or being re routed from Iran? Hello?And the India BusinessStandard reports on various internet conspiracy theories, and quotes one blogger saying that Iran is back on line, but re routed via the UK so their traffic can be monitored. But again they only note local problems, not blackout (and note: The FLAG company whose cables were affected has Indian ties).
Now, technically, the latest cut off the Middle East were not caused by destruction: Slashdot corrects the reports: “… the cable wasn’t cut. It was taken offline due to power issues…”

A little truth would go a long way at stopping conspiracy theories.
Scott Adams at DilbertBlog notes the conspiracy theories, and sardonically notes similarities to one of his satires:

It seems highly coincidental that three undersea cables get cut and the only country entirely shut off is Iran. I doubt it is the first step before war, but you can’t help raising an eyebrow when reality starts to intersect with fiction.

Yet why don’t the news reports mention the Iranian internet blackout? Even Drudge isn’t reporting it…maybe because it isn’t true?

by Boinky
image: impa
Source: Attention Conspiracy Theorists: Iran is still On the Line

Citizen Journalism: "911, I'd Like to Report an Unregulated Blogger"

Danger to the Republic

People typing on keyboards endanger the Republic.

DAVID HAZINSKI offers humor from an expected source and tips about dealing with the "Evil Power of the Internet".

Hilarious musings from an ex-NBC guy who had the sense to find other employment.

Supporters of "citizen journalism" argue it provides independent, accurate, reliable information that the traditional media don't provide. While it has its place, the reality is it really isn't journalism at all, and it opens up information flow to the strong probability of fraud and abuse. The news industry should find some way to monitor and regulate this new trend.

Hazinski offers a solution. That's considerate.

DBKP would like to offer Hazinski a clue: the news industry's "monitor and regulate" policy toward what people read is at the bottom of this trend. More evidence that the mad professor needs to call Vanna.

The premise of citizen journalism is that regular people can now collect information and pictures with video cameras and cellphones, and distribute words and images over the Internet. Advocates argue that the acts of collecting and distributing makes these people "journalists." This is like saying someone who carries a scalpel is a "citizen surgeon" or someone who can read a law book is a "citizen lawyer." Tools are merely that. Education, skill and standards are really what make people into trusted professionals. Information without journalistic standards is called gossip.

What a dangerous, eroneous premise. Computers in the hands of regular Joes? What a menace.

We'd like to interject here that small-town reporters at news dailies resemble more closely their blogosphere brethren: they toil in the trenches, as likely to write about a cat caught in a tree as 'big stories'. They exhibit none of the arrogance we've come to expect from media gatekeepers in the "professional" major leagues.

They live among the subjects of their reports--unlike the denizens of CNN, New York Times, etc.

One images Haransky in the pre-Revolutionary American colonies: he'd be the one beating on John Peter Zenger's printing press with a pitchfork. Or shouting down Tom Paine.

Can't have the yokels putting out non-professional news without the guidance of their betters.

Similar danger stalked our Forefathers

Hazinski now has us rolling on the floor.

Having just anyone produce widely distributed stories without control can have the reverse effect from what advocates intend. It's just a matter of time before something like a faked Rodney King beating video appears on the air somewhere.

Kinda like fake documents showing up on the air at CBS Evening News right before the 2004 presidential election? Kinda like Dan Rather saying that he (alone) knew the truth?

Or kinda like NBC's faked Pinto videos? Those were 'recreations' of how dangerous the Ford product was to the public. Only they didn't say they'd rigged the Pinto with an explosive charge to make sure we got the point/joke?

Hazinski's prescription to this dangerous power? Regulation, clarification and certification.

• Major news organizations must create standards to substantiate citizen-contributed information and video, and ensure its accuracy and authenticity.

• They should clarify and reinforce their own standards and work through trade organizations to enforce national standards so they have real meaning.

• Journalism schools such as mine at the University of Georgia should create mini-courses to certify citizen journalists in proper ethics and procedures, much as volunteer teachers, paramedics and sheriff's auxiliaries are trained and certified.

Professor Hazinski (a former alumni of NBC News, sister organization of MSNBC, home of uber-journalists such as Keith Olbermann, Rosie O'Donnell and Chris Matthews) sums it all up in a big finish.

But we have already seen the line between news and entertainment blur enough to destroy significant credibility. Continuing to do nothing as information flow changes will further erode it. Journalism organizations who choose to do nothing may soon find the line between professional and citizen journalism gone as well as the trust of their audiences.

The wacky professor is too coy.

Who blurred that line, Prof? It wasn't a thousand blogs like DBKP; we're mere pikers in the blurring biz.

But we're going to be generous and offer professor Hazinski what he didn't offer the dangerous citizen journalists who are threatening his beloved NBC and other big "professional" media: a clue.

How about a little honesty, Prof?

Quit the sham that "professional journalists" are anything other than a bunch of guys--and a few gals--sitting around discussing your likes and dislikes and writing it into your evening newscasts.

When the gossip clubs known as "professional" media lowers their masks, I suspect part of the blogosphere may lower their disdain for the media gatekeepers and their apologists like Hazinski.

Citizens typing on keyboards are no danger to the Republic.

We are a danger to Hazinski's buddies in the big "professional" media, however.

by Mondoreb
[images:goodexperience; etc.usf.edu.]
Source: Unfettered Citizen Journalism Too Risky



Death by 1000 Papercuts Front Page.

The United Nations: A Creature of Fiction

"Personal Notice: Danger is my stock-in-trade. If the job is too tough for you to handle, you've got a job for me, George Valentine. Write full details."

The above advertisement was how the hero in 1940s radio thriller "Let George Do it" obtained his clients.

It made for great radio; it makes for lousy foreign policy. Besides, George was a fiction.

Increasingly, political leaders, from the Democrat Party to Greens in Germany, demand that a worldwide "George"--the United Nations--do the work whenever there's a problem.

Environmental problems? Nuclear Iran? The Internet?

"Let George (the U.N.) do it!"

An industry has sprung up castigating George Bush, the United States, Israel, Great Britain: in short any country who doesn't govern by committee, for the grave sin of "unilateralism".

The United Nations has a great track record for padding the pockets of its officials, naming Israel and the United States as a "problem" or "racist" and other amusing sideshow antics.

Its list of accomplishments of actually doing anything about serious problems is much shorter.

Now, there are some calls to let the United Nations police the Internet.

As commercials for risky investments proclaim, "Past performance is no guarantee of future success".

Calls for UN action are shorthand. Substitute the words, "Let George do it" and the results would be the same: nothing.

That anyone should "police" or "take charge" of the Internet is troubling--except to the nanny types who are troubled by nothing except smoking in bars, fatty foods and non-Politically Correct speech. That the United Nations do it is--well, we'll let the reader supply their own reaction.

With that in mind, the following five quotes may be enlightening. Remember them the next time someone gets in front of the cameras with a call for the U.N. to take action on anything, from Iraq to Iran's nuclear ambitions to policing the Internet.

"If I'm president, I will not only personally go to the UN, I will go to other capitals. . . . I will immediately reach out to other nations in a very different way from this administration. Within weeks of being inaugurated, I will return to the UN and I will literally, formally rejoin the community of nations and turn over a proud new chapter in America's relationship with the world."
--John Kerry, NBC's Meet the Press

"Should governance of the Internet be turned over to the United Nations? It seems far-fetched, but that’s exactly what some foreign governments – including China and the European Union – are advocating."

Three women peace activists interrupted today’s Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on John Bolton’s nomination as US Ambassador to the UN. They held up banners reading “NO Bolton, YES UN,” “Bolton = Nuclear Proliferation,” and “Diplomat, Not Bully, Please!” and urged Senators to reject Bolton as the worst possible choice for the job and for world peace.

"When everybody is responsible, nobody is"
--Arthur Rubenstein, among many

"Virtuous motives, trammelled by inertia and timidity, are no match for armed and resolute wickedness. A sincere love of peace is no excuse for muddling hundreds of millions of humble folk into total war. The cheers of weak, well-meaning assemblies soon cease to echo, and their votes soon cease to count. Doom marches on."
--Winston Churchill, writing in The Gathering Storm, of events in 1935. European powers, instead of acting against treaty violations and--in spite of bald declarations by Hitler and Mussolini on what they intended to do--kept insisting no one country but the League of Nations take action.

"Let George do it."

"Let the U.N. take action."

Both entities are fictitious.

In other words: let nobody do it.

by Mondoreb
[image:un]
Source: The Gathering Storm, Winston S. Churhill, p. 190
Let the U.N. Govern the Internet?
Kerry's UN Fetish



Death by 1000 Papercuts Front Page.

MHIC: Final Round-Up

Reaction to Megan Had it Coming.

It was another cruel online charade. This was done at the expense of not only Megan Meier and her family, overall, it was set up by an opportunist who took full advantage of a very painful situation.

Was it a cruel and malicious power play? Was it an emotionally driven form of manipulation? You bet it was, on both counts.

--Maryannaville: Hoax: Read it and Weep

also what was beowolf posting that got deleted ? and what where the other things that got deleted? did beowolf ever exist? i is so confused

Enclopedia Dramatica: Megan had it coming

That's all the reaction we could find to the hoax this morning.

Expect more later as the blog may be used by those who argue the Internet is just too spooky a place without more regulations and laws. The attempt will be made to reinvent the Internet as a place where you can have as much fun as any trip to the post office or other government building.

In the "we need more laws" minds, more laws and tougher penalties for anything on the Internet will make them feel good about themselves.

It's already been used a few times as "proof" that Lori Drew is a victim.

MHIC, R.I.P.

by Mondoreb




DBKP.com - Bigger, Better!.
Back to DBKP at Blogger Front Page

Lori Drew: The Increasing Victimization of Lori Drew

"Quick! Somebody get me the paint ball!"

Another post from another "good" blogger at aol.news, who also writes for the appropriately-named "Babble".

The only saving grace for her is that, Lord knows, she was probably just looking for a "fresh angle" to the now-familiar story of Megan Meier's suicide.

To set the tone and show that she's just as objective as the "tribal" people she's writing about, Ada Calhoun throws in "chilling", "shunning" and the aforementioned "tribal".

Lori Drew gets to be once again portrayed as an innocent victim, the Internet gets to be scary and Ada gets to act detachedly--dare we say it?--outraged.

'Megan' Blog Leads To More Attacks on Drews

Just when things seem to be slowing down with the Megan Meier story, that "Megan Had It Coming" blog shows up and (despite the fact that Lori Drew's lawyer has denied Drew wrote it) the outrage at the Drews escalates again.

Now on AOL News is this chilling report of the family's neighborhood, which has become almost "tribal" in its systematic shunning of the Drews: "It's like they used to do in the 1700s and 1800s. If you wronged a community, you were basically shunned. That's basically what happened to her," said Trevor Buckles, a 40-year-old who lives next door to the Drews.

The neighbors, who in the words of Drew's attorney, Jim Briscoe, are "afraid to approach the Drews out of fear", here are portrayed as Drew's tormentors.

Some of what's been done, according to the report: Last December, after neighbors learned of the Internet hoax, someone threw a brick through a window in the Drew home. A few weeks ago, someone made a prank call to police reporting that there had been a shooting inside the Drew's house, prompting squad cars to arrive with sirens flashing.
Someone recently obtained the password to change the Drew's outgoing cell phone recording, and replaced it with a disturbing message. Police would not detail the content.

Clients have fled from Drew's home-based advertising business, so she had to close it. Neighbors have not seen Drew outside her home in weeks.

Ada has left at least one of her readers wondering: which is it?

Are the neighbors "afraid to approach the Drews", as Jim Briscoe says?

Are the neighbors willingly staying away from the Drews in a shunning spree?

Or are the neighbors willingly approaching the Drews to attack them as Ada's post here relates?

Or, "none of the above", since neighbors haven't seen Lori Drew "in weeks"?

And what's a good Lori Drew victimization piece without a obligatory "Power of the Evil Internet" sighting.

Ms. Calhoun doesn't disappoint.

And that's nothing compared to the invective being hurled via the Internet, according to The Age:
As the story gain more attention, Internet avengers took matters into their own hands. They plastered photos of the Drews and Ashley, their addresses, phone numbers and email details over the internet including on sites like People You'll See in Hell and Rotten Neighbors. Local businesses that advertised in Lori Drew's coupon book business have also been harangued and targetted with boycott threats.

Just think: without a legal system, all such immorality would still be punished in this way, with social control. How lucky we are that we don't need to avenge all wrongs with bricks through windows and can use lawsuits instead. If only there were a law in place that could bring some justice for the Meiers, maybe the neighbors wouldn't feel such a need to take matters into their own hands. Then again, it's such an ugly story, maybe even the involvement of the court system wouldn't satisfy the angry mobs?

Well, Ada does say it's a "mob", but she shows considerable restraint in not using the hackneyed "vigilante".
Who started "Josh Evans" in the first place? Tell me again.
Here's a question or two for all the "Victimization of Lori Drew"-mongers plying their trade, wherever better journalistic theories are sold.

When is it "mob" actions--with or without the veneer of uber-offended sensibilities--and when is it people venting? Haven't we heard so much about "getting it out"?

Or is that just when they agree with the issue being discussed?

Fourteen months on, after the Megan Meier suicide, let's tote up that angry mob's despicable, dastardly dirty deeds.

In this corner: one brick, one paintball on the side of a house, one crank call, one cell phone jobbed, one set of tire tracks across the yard. The last were by the dead girl's father. Clue me in, Ms. Calhoun, is he part of your mob?

That was unclear.

In fact, no one outside the neighborhood even knew about Megan Meier and her suicide until a month ago. The Meier family told the neighbors to stay calm and "let the system work". It was when neighbors felt the system was jobbing them, the parents and the memory of a little girl and the circumstances surrounding her death, that the reactions got testy.

Try to work that into your story next time, "Weep for the Internet" writers.

In the other corner: one mother who "solely instigated and monitored" an on-going 6-weeks-long harassment of a 13-year-old girl. "Even when the conversations turned sexual, she didn't shut down the account".

Gee Ada, looks like your mob's gonna have trouble handling the Brady Bunch. We better get these people some proper pitchforks and torches, so they can do the job right. Whatcha say?

I'll chip in. I'm a giver.

Historical note for Ada Calhoun: before the courts, in the West, we had vendettas and wergeld: blood money or life for a life. That's what kept down the mobs then, Ada.

As kings expanded their power over the surrounding countryside, various tribes, groups and peoples exchanged their demand for wergeld for the promise that the king's courts would mete out an impartial justice for all.

When the king's courts failed to mete out justice or consider a case, people sought their own justice in those areas, until the courts were able to hold up their end of the bargain again.

America's courts are far more extensive than the king's were. But the concept remains the same: when people feel the courts aren't doing their job, they start making noise.

Before the next drive-by journalist gets all gooey about this being more "Power of the Evil Internet": no one visited any violence on the person of any of the Drew's--either physical, emotional or spiritual. No one, outside the Drew's own neighborhood, did anything except make some phone calls to some advertisers.

Are suggestions that maybe the advertiser's money to Ad Vantage might have been better spent on something other than a fake MySpace account too much?

This increasingly insipid moral equivalency masquerading as meditative journalism is getting to be tiresome and formalistic.

If Ada Calhoun agreed that there was an injustice done to anyone other than Lori Drew--whom Ada seems to have taken under her wing--might she have called any actions on the Internet "activism" and "people getting involved"?

There has been plenty of outrage; disgust, shock and disdain have all made their appearance, too.

Calhoun would have us believe that it's mindless, undirected, primal, "tribal".

It's not.

It's directed at the story of a woman and her attorney scrambling to distance her from her actions. That might be understandable.

If only.

If only once, during these last 14 months, anyone had ever heard the words "I'm sorry" escape the lips of the one person Ada chooses to take under her journalistic protection, that outcry might have been muted.

If only.

There have been stories aplenty accusing Lori Drew of being a "helicopter parent".

I guess Ada's right: the "mob" ought to not expend all of its outrage on "Lori Drew, helicopter parent"

The "mob" might save a drop of that disdain for helicopter journalists.

by Mondoreb
[image:nicholdsoncartoons;dannyhaszard]



Death by 1000 Papercuts Front Page.

Lori Drew, Megan Had it Coming: HOAX!!

Prankster Laughs While Dancing on Dead Girl's Grave

Something to tell the grandkids about, for sure.

The author of the Megan Had it Coming blog is revealed to be a smart-stepping prankster.

But it was getting too hot in the faux-blog kitchen.

The hoax-monger purports to "demonstrate the collective stupidity of thousands of Internet users who confuse replying to blogs for having actual intellectual discourse."

We're not so sure about all that.

It did demonstrate that the jokester had something on his hands other than the remains of a creepy masturbatory experience: time.

The comments and previous posts and comments have vanished from the site--to be replaced with the latest one, reproduced below: The Final Chapter.

Sunday, December 9, 2007 The Final Story It really hurts to do this, considering everything everone has been through, but I have to do it. I know there's been a lot of confusion about this blog and me, so I want to lay it all to rest. As you know, Mr. Briscoe has been working diligently to get this blog taken down despite my wishes. I understand that he's trying to protect the family, and I respect that. But, I don't want to be silenced. Not after everything I've gone through. I just want to say thank you to everyone who has been supportive (or at least fair) of my viewpoint. I will keep you all in my thoughts and prayers. It is because of you that I have found the strength to continue my struggle for real justice. And for all of you who continue to vilify me, I can only hope that you will one day open your eyes and see what you have done to an innocent human being. Your callous lack of remorse in your collective attempts to destroy this family disgusts me. But I won't be afraid of you anymore. For everyone who doubts who this is, and the truth of what I write, I want you to watch this video very carefully: In case this blog gets taken down, I will do my best to continue to fight for my side of the story here: Megan Had it Coming Posted by Megan Had It Coming at 9:26 PM

Little Baby Ginn and Mondo Talk to the Blog's Author--Sorta

Seeking discourse--first Little Baby Ginn, and then yours truly--went over to the MHIC blog, in hopes of meeting it's author.

He was still there.

So was Beowulf.

The author apparently was the sensitive sort: he lurked on the blog for awhile, erasing comments which critiqued his style, some rather hurriedly.

He particularly singled out Beowulf, who had hurt his feelings; and LBG, who kept posting "Where did Beowulf's comments go?" and "Why do you keep deleting me?"

What a letdown: he didn't delete any of mine. And the following wasn't half bad:

MONDOREB said... Hey beowulf: What do you call a guy who yells at a picture of a guy with a bag on his head? Give up? ****! stop it...you're killing me! December 10, 2007 12:02 AM

Beowulf, had it about right in his first of several comments the blog's author deleted:
"It was sloppily executed and crass for using a dead girl and her family. I give it a C-."

The blog's author, demonstrating his commitment to "actual intellectual discourse" promptly deleted it.

I gave it a 2. You couldn't dance to it

There was more, but it wasn't very exciting, so LBG and I left.

The blog's author?

Well, we don't know what he's doing now. Probably getting over that sad, empty feeling he experienced when he realized he was no longer Lori Drew. But he did pretend he was a girl, referring to the blog's author as "she".

We're not sure what that means: we're not shrinks.

Will the authorities catch up to him?

We'll see.

Now, we close the book on one twist in this exceedingly curvy tale.

* * *

Our main question at the moment is: Where was Blogger.com?

Where was Google?

The blog clearly violated several points on their Terms of Service. They were aware of this. They were the only ones aware of this, other than the blog's author.

Yet, they did not act.

The blog is still up and our Blog Clock is still running.

21 days 14 hours 55 minutes since the blog went up.

Maybe Google would like to issue another statement?

We'll wait.

by Mondoreb
[image:funnymanfilms]
Source: The Final Chapter



Death by 1000 Papercuts Front Page.

Lori Drew, Megan Had it Coming: A Multitude of Statements

Latest statements concerning the "Megan Had it Coming" blog.

"My daughter had nothing to do with this. Everyone needs to leave her alone." --from "I'm Lori Drew" "Here I am internet. Come get me." --from "I'm Lori Drew" "I have not talked to Mrs. Drew about this at all." --Jack Banas, St. Charles County prosecuting attorney. Banas said he asked the sheriff's department to investigate the blog after being questioned by a TV reporter. "Someone claims to be her. It's not her. She has not done anything anywhere. So that makes it pretty simple." --Jim Briscoe, attorney for Lori Drew "We have not received an impersonation claim to date from the individual allegedly being impersonated." --Google statement 12/6/07 "Lori Drew could have this blog shut down at the touch of the button." --Mondoreb, DBKP "More than likely MHIC was posted by a group of people just looking for the attention and to see how many people they can get to fall for it." --Trench Reynolds [3] "When we are notified of the existence of content that may violate our Terms of Service, we act quickly to review it and determine whether it actually violates our policies," according to the Google spokesman. "If we determine that it does, we remove it immediately. We are currently reviewing an impersonation claim related to this blog." --Email from Blogger.com. about whether the Megan Had it Coming Blog is operated by a Drew impersonator (12/7/7) "The matter is under investigation. Where that is going to lead us, we don't know." --Lt. Craig McGuire, St. Charles (MO) Sheriff's Department "Jim Briscoe, said he has told Google, the blog host, that Drew did not write it. Google has said it will remove the blog if it finds Drew was not involved." --Harassment Law may Help Family who Taunted Girl PLEASE CONTINUE THE PRESSURE ON THE LAW MAKERS TO CHARGE LORI DREW! --from Exposing Online Predators and Cyberpaths 20 days, 18 hours, 39 minutes --Latest reading on DBKP Megan Had it Coming Countdown Clock [Time elapsed since MHIC blog was created] 3544 --Number of comments on "I'm Lori Drew" The real Lori Drew has not complained to law enforcement.[1]

The debates continues to rage.

That's where the matter stands on Sunday morning, December 9 2007.

by Mondoreb
[image:webekunst24]
Sources:
1- Who is "Kristen"? And who, Really is Lori Drew? The Investigation Begins
2- I'm Lori Drew - Megan Had it Coming
3 - Megan Had it Coming: Work of a Troll?




Death by 1000 Papercuts Front Page.

Breaking: Internet Porn Watchdog Monitoring Megan Had it Coming

Internet porn sleuth, Edna Bambrick, is now monitoring the 'Megan Had it Coming' blog for foul language.

It was bound to happen.

by Mondoreb

Death by 1000 Papercuts Front Page.

Lori Drew, Megan Had it Coming: MHIC Author a Troll?

[NOTE: DBKP has examined the 'Megan Had it Coming' Blog and its last post, dated December 3, "I'm Lori Drew". We don't know who is behind the blog--Lori Drew or Internet troll.

However, we've asked Trench Reynolds, who has covered MySpace crime for the last eight years, to give us his opinion.

He makes some good points. Some we agree with, others: we're not so sure. But, he makes several of his points so persuasively, we thought you readers should get a chance to see them and decide for yourselves.]

Hey everybody. My name is Trench Reynolds. Some of you may know me from my blogs about crime, TheTrenchcoat Chronicles and MyCrimeSpace. At the Chronicles I've been blogging since 2000 discussing school shootings and at MCS I talk about MySpace related crimes.

Mondoreb invited me to Death by 1,000 Papercuts (which is the greatest blog name ever) to express my thoughts on the Megan Meier story, specifically the 'Megan Had It Coming Blog'. As a lot of people have I've been following the story closely since it broke nationally. And just like most people I was horrified to read what happened to Megan Meier by people who were supposed to be adults.

When the identity of the Drews were made public by bloggers and commenters I decided that I would not post their names in hopes of not facilitating some kind of vigilante justice. Also I did not want to interfere with the investigation into whether or not criminal files would be charged.

It was after I made that post that someone posted a comment about 'MHIC'. It was also on that same post that someone by the name of 'ANONYMOUS' was leaving comments in defense of Lori Drew and was leaving comments similar to the posts on 'MHIC'.

I conferred with a blogging friend of mine who is a cybersecurity expert and we both agreed that ANONYMOUS and MHIC were the same person. Of course the Internet being what it is a lot of people automatically assumed that it must be Lori Drew without doing any investigation.

Now that's not a dig at DBKP because their own investigation seems to be thorough. However whenever a tragedy like this breaks there's always people willing to take advantage of the situation in order to get some attention. That's what I think is going on with MHIC.

Getting back to ANONYMOUS the e-mail address used to place the comments at MCS traced back to the MySpace of 16-year-old African-American girl from Michigan. It is possible that the address was a fake that coincidentally belonged to this girl's MySpace. However once I made that fact public the MySpace in question disappeared.

The second thing that leads me to believe that MHIC is a fake was the IP address of ANONYMOUS. Every time someone posts a comment at MCS I receive an e- mail that has their IP Address in it. IP addresses are used to trace back to someone's Internet Service Provider (ISP). Through this information I can usually ascertain the person's relative geographical location.

ANONYMOUS' ISP traced back to Louisville, KY which is roughly 260 miles from where the Drews and Meiers lived. IP addresses can be spoofed but if the person really wanted me to believe they were Lori Drew and had the knowledge on how to spoof IP addresses they probably would have made the address trace back to Missouri and not Kentucky.

Lastly, which may just be wishful thinking on my part, after everything that has be relayed in the media and on blogs I'd like to think that Lori Drew would not be that callous or stupid to entitle a blog 'Megan Had It Coming'.

Recently Lori Drew's lawyer said that she had nothing to do with the blog. Mondoreb himself poses the question if it's a hoax why is still up because of Google's imitation rules. My answer to that is I think it's not really a high priority for Google. Not only that if it was Lori Drew I think her lawyer would have advised her to take it down by now which can be done as easily as clicking on a button.

Since civil charges are likely against the Drews I think since the blog is still up that the odds are in favor of MHIC not being written by Lori Drew.

More than likely MHIC was posted by a group of people just looking for the attention and to see how many people they can get to fall for it. In the end I could be wrong but that would mean that Lori Drew is really that stupid and callous and if she is I weep for humanity.

So what do you think?

Is 'Megan Had It Coming' the work of Lori Drew?

Or an Internet troll?

[Check out other Trench Reynolds reports on the MySpace Suicide story, as well as MySpace and school crime at TheTrenchcoat Chronicles and MyCrimeSpace. Crime buffs need to drop by for the latest.]




Death by 1000 Papercuts Front Page.

Lori Drew, Megan Had It Coming: What Her Lawyer Says, What Google Says

More questions concerning 'Megan Had it Coming'

Two statements about the 'Megan Had it Coming' blog were quoted by Fox News. We present both, as well as some questions at the end.

Lori Drew, who signed a police statement in 2006 that she was the instigator of the fictitious Internet boy named "Josh Evans", and was involved in the MySpace hoax in the minutes before Megan Meier's suicide: her attorney, Jim Briscoe's statement:

"I can categorically say that she did not write it," Briscoe told FOXNews.com. "She has not said anything on the Internet, on any blogs, on any Internet sites." Briscoe said that Drew, a neighbor of the Meiers, has purposely remained silent in the media and online during the investigation and since. "That's part of why she's remained silent, so there's no confusion about that," Briscoe said. "Anything that's on the Web is not true. She hasn't done anything. She doesn't know anybody who's done it — anybody who's doing it or has done it."

And now a statement from Google, parent company of Blogger.com, which hosts the 'Megan Had it Coming'.

Blogger.com, which houses the blog and lists "impersonation" as one of the things banned from the site, said it has no information that would call into question the authenticity of the "Megan Had It Coming" site. "We take violations of Blogger's policy very seriously as such activities diminish the experience for our users," a spokesman for Google, Blogger's parent company, told FOXNews.com. "Once we are notified about a blog that impersonates a person, we act quickly to remove it. We have not received an impersonation claim to date from the individual allegedly being impersonated."

Questions we'd like to ask:

* Why is the blog still up?

* If it is true, as Mr. Briscoe maintains, that Lori Drew is not the blog's author, why hasn't Ms. Drew shut it down?

* If Lori Drew is not the author of the 'Megan Had it Coming' blog, she can have it shut down in a heartbeat by contacting Blogger. This has not happened.

Blogger.com says, they have "no information that would call into question the authenticity of the "Megan Had It Coming" site."

* Blogger.com has information on who created the blog. What does that tell us?

These are the questions.

We're patient. We'll wait for the answers.

What do you think?

by Mondoreb
Source: MySpace Mom Linked to Missouri Teen Suicide Being Cyber Bullied Herself

Death by 1000 Papercuts Front Page.

Today in History: December 6, 2007

IF AT FIRST YOU DON'T SUCCEED

Fifty years ago, on Dec. 6, 1957, America's first attempt at putting a satellite into orbit failed as Vanguard TV3 rose only about four feet off a Cape Canaveral launch pad before crashing back down and exploding.

On this date:

POLITICS

In 1790, Congress moved to Philadelphia from New York.

In 1889, Jefferson Davis, the first and only president of the Confederate States of America, died in New Orleans.

In 1921, British and Irish representatives signed a treaty in London providing for creation of an Irish Free State a year later on the same date.

In 1973, House Minority Leader Gerald R. Ford was sworn in as vice president, succeeding Spiro T. Agnew.

In 2002, Anti-war activist Philip Berrigan died in Baltimore at age 79.

LABOR HISTORY

In 1957, AFL-CIO members voted to expel the International Brotherhood of Teamsters. (The Teamsters were readmitted in 1987, but disaffiliated themselves from the AFL-CIO in 2005.)

In 1907, the worst mining disaster in U.S. history occurred as 362 men and boys died in a coal mine explosion in Monongah, W.Va.

TERRORISM

In 1982, 11 soldiers and six civilians were killed when an Irish National Liberation Army bomb exploded at a pub in Ballykelly, Northern Ireland.

In 1989, 14 women were shot to death at the University of Montreal's school of engineering by a man who then took his own life.

THE INTERNET

One year ago: Searchers found the body of San Francisco resident[and C-NET editor] James Kim in the Oregon mountains, two days after his wife and two daughters were rescued from their car (Kim had set out on foot to find help for his family).

CELEBRITIES

Five years ago: Actress Winona Ryder was sentenced to community service as part of a probationary term for stealing more than $5,500 worth of merchandise from a Saks Fifth Avenue store in Beverly Hills, Calif.

BIRTHDAYS

Jazz musician Dave Brubeck is 87. Comedy performer David Ossman is 71. Country singer Helen Cornelius is 66. Actor James Naughton is 62. Rhythm-and-blues singer Frankie Beverly (Maze) is 61. Former Sen. Don Nickles (R-Okla.) is 59. Actress JoBeth Williams is 59. Actor Tom Hulce is 54. Actor Kin Shriner is 54. Talk show host Wil Shriner is 54. Actor Miles Chapin is 53. Rock musician Rick Buckler (The Jam) is 52. Comedian Steven Wright is 52. Country singer Bill Lloyd is 52. Singer Tish Hinojosa is 52. Rock musician Peter Buck (R.E.M.) is 51. Rock musician David Lovering (Pixies) is 46. Actress Janine Turner is 45. Rock musician Ben Watt (Everything But The Girl) is 45. Writer-director Judd Apatow is 40. Rock musician Ulf "Buddha" Ekberg (Ace of Base) is 37. Actress Colleen Haskell is 31. Actress Lindsay Price is 31.


Today is Thursday, Dec. 6, the 340th day of 2007. There are 25 days left in the year.

Edits by Mondoreb
Source: AP - Today in History



Death by 1000 Papercuts Front Page.

Megan Meier, Lori Drew: St. L P-D Believes Bloggers Are the Real Culprits

Post Dispatch tackles important issue

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch has fingered a culprit in the Megan Meier story.

And the guilty parties are--surprise!--bloggers.

The traditional press, ever mindful of mouthing ethics that fall far short of what they actually practice, is again pointing a finger at their Internet brethren.

Joel Currier, the P-D writer seems upset that readers, upon reading Megan's story, became upset. The Post-Dispatch can hardly direct their ire at readers, having lost over 10,000 of them over the last year, so bloggers are not only handy, but also a logical target.[1]

Besides, bloggers most likely don't read the Post-Dispatch anyway.

Why's Joel so upset? We'll let him explain.

Rage against Curt and Lori Drew of Dardenne Prairie continues to explode on the Internet — targeting the couple and people who did business with them.

Bloggers want justice for Megan Meier, 13, and vengeance against the Drews, whom they blame for Megan's suicide last year.

Dozens of names and phone numbers of businesses that advertised in Lori Drew's coupon book have been posted online with demands to boycott their establishments.

Many of the companies have canceled their advertising contracts with Drew and received letters saying Drew is folding her coupon business.[2]

So: there are people upset with the Drews. This is unpardonable. Joel quotes a few of the merchants, who are upset at being contacted by people learning of their association with Drew's Ad Vantage advertising company.

He then moves on to Drew's lawyer to support his thesis. The reporter in Mr. Currier surely knows that someone's attorney may not be the final word in objectivity.

Doesn't he?

Jim Briscoe, the lawyer representing the Drews, told the "Today" show on Tuesday that Lori Drew has had to close her advertising business and her daughter has dropped out of school after the publicity and investigation into Megan's suicide. Briscoe also said it was not clear whether the Drews would be able to continue living in their Dardenne Prairie neighborhood, four doors down from the Meier house.

Drew "absolutely, 100 percent" did not know that Internet messages to Megan had become nasty, Briscoe said. Drew did not write any of the MySpace messages that preceded Megan Meier's suicide in October 2006.[2]

One admires Jim Briscoe. His job of presenting Lori Drew as a sympathetic figure is not an easy one. But he gets paid to do that job.

Joel Currier gets paid to do another job.

And today he earned his pay decrying the reactions of readers--of bloggers. He quotes another harried small businessman.

Stein Hunter, 49, the owner of the Crooked Tree Coffee Shop in St. Charles, says he sees irony in the way people are using the Internet to harass business owners in order to get back at the Drews.

"The issue is harassment," Hunter said. "And they are harassing people."

An expression of opinion is many things to many people. To Mr. Hunter, it's harassment; it must certainly seems like it to him. But then, Mr. Hunter brews coffee: he doesn't report the news.

Another expression of opinion in the Post-Dispatch came from Currier's colleague, Jeff Gordon, sportswriter, about the Cardinal's Scott Rolen. "Rolen's gotta go," writes Gordon today. But no piece on whether Rolen agrees with that opinion or feels harassed. Or whether his livelihood might be affected.

And Rolen didn't conduct a six-week hoax on a 13-year-old girl; all he's apparently guilty of is pouting and frowning.

There's more of the same from Joel Currier in his story; anyone wanting to read it can check out the article; it's listed at the end of this post.

One could do a simple check--we did--to find that most of the phone numbers, personal information and posting of advertisers came from readers of blogs, not the blogs themselves. Whether in comments tagged onto the end of posts, in forums or in emails, readers were almost universally outraged.

Why were readers outraged?

That was simple enough to check also. They were upset that a 46-year-old woman would concoct an elaborate scam on a 13-year-old girl suffering from depression. They were upset that, in Drew's own words, "she, with the help of a temporary employee named "Ashley", constructed a profile of 'good-looking' male on 'myspace'".

They are upset that when "the communication became 'sexual for a 13-year-old', Drew--again in her own words--continued the fake male profile despite this development.[3]

They became upset at a traditional press, which had long published the names and personal information of anyone targeted in frivolous lawsuits or cases where people were arrested for offenses, large and small(and later the charges were dropped), clammed up when it came to an Internet hoaxer.

And now, those same readers appear to be upset when reporters attack the one vehicle they had for expressing their anger: the Internet and the bloggers who chronicle there.

This isn't the first time this has happened. It's one of the reasons that TV ratings and circulation figures continue to tumble for the gatekeepers in the traditional media: poor and unresponsive customer service.

One suspects this won't be the last time.

by Mondoreb
[image:stlbrianj]

Sources:
1-FAS-FAX Numbers from the Audit Bureau of Circulation
2-Internet Fury Mounts in Megan Case
3-What Lawyer said in 2007, What Lori Drew said in 2006



Death by 1000 Papercuts Front Page.