Those Nasty Anonymous Comments

Don't usually toot my own horn, but this statement from analysis by the commenting platform Disqus sounds awfully familiar.

Pseudonyms are kind of a cross between the two: You can say what you want without fear of retribution (a la anonymity) but you also want to cultivate a persona, and, typically, you don't want it to be hated. The result? Better comments.

From August 2007:

Unlike the real namers however, their credibility is based primarily on context. The semi-anonymous develops a reputation based not on name but on the content of their work. If the work is credible and consistent, the handle can become almost as legitimate as a real name.

The internet changes many things, but some truths remain consistent.

Quote Of The Day

Walker County Commissioner Bebe Heiskell responding to allegations made by the blog LaFayette Underground that she waltzed into a Huddle House, drunker than six sailors.

I wrote them back and said they must’ve gotten me mixed up with someone else because I don’t drink and I don’t smoke and I don’t dance and I don’t date.

LaFayette Underground has been sticking pins and needles in Walker County officials for two year.Recently, one of its anonymous contributor's was not only identified by police but questioned after security footage showed him on city property after hours.

The conflict between the powers that be in Walker County and the anonymous blog has been bubbling for some time and brings into light a number of issues confronted by social media in the past half decade; anonymity, ethics and standards, etc.

I'll withhold judgment on the standards of LaFayette Underground but will say based on what I've read, they've played fast and loose with the game. That's a dangerous position in any circumstance and as they are discovering, it has real world implications when you are accusing those in power of malfeasance

In Which I Hate On Everyone

My dreams are all dead and buried
Sometimes I wish the world would just explode
When God comes and calls me to his kingdom
I'll take all you sonsabitches when I go
~Billy Joe Shaver

It is time to assess.

The Blogs - Let us take a look around the landscape.

Despite allegations of taking the occasional cash handshake to write positive stories, despite having to issue a retraction for a story practically invented out of thin air, Andre Walker continues to be referenced by media, enjoys privileges at one of the largest national Democratic blogs and continues to spin his stories of Democratic Party of Georgia goings-on. And he is "taken seriously" because of his "insider status". So much for consequences.

If you want rumor mongering and ego mania, look no further than Peach Pundit. It has always been the place for juicy tidbits and Erick Erickson's personal witch hunts, but with the Republican scandals of last fall, they felt the need to step it up a bit. Erick all but provided the gory details of the most famous rumor in Georgia Politics, then spent several days squealing about love children and opening the sewer pipes to allow every green apple splat squishing around the marble halls to spew forth. Privately, some journalists admonished bloggers about "editorial choices", but publicly, their publications continued to direct readers to Erick's filthy playpen and tell them to take it "seriously". So much for standards.

Of course, there are always those who would stand at the vanguard of the garbage wave. As Georgia Liberal did when it tut tutted the new cooperative of media services in the state. They digitally wagged their fingers at the stodgy journalists of the Athens Banner-Herald for not understanding doom was inevitable. Then, promptly went back to re-publishing someone else's copyrighted cartoons. So much for self-awareness.

Then, there's Jeff Sexton of SWGAPolitics. Not satisfied with accusing a sitting Constitutional officer of running a criminal enterprise, Jeff set his sights on another target. And we must give credit where credit is due, he broke the biggest story ever uncovered by a Georgia blog. If only the story stopped there. He proceeded to come as close to libel as any blog ever by calling someone a "child molestor" and quoting a section of law which did not apply. But it's hard to stop a steam train of ego. When told of his mistake, he refused to correct the blatantly false statement. Later, when asked why he hadn't given the accused a chance to respond, he replied "I don't play fair with child molestors". So much for fairness.

Over two years ago, the Athens Banner-Herald's Blake Aued said,

When y’all start doing your own reporting, rather than rely on rumors, press releases and the dreaded MSM, then you can call yourselves journalists

He should be a prophet.

The Press - For almost three years, we begged them to link to us. We were told we were rumor mongers. We were told we didn't have editorial standards. We were told we couldn't be trusted. We were told we were "entertainers".

But that dam was never going to last forever. And what happened when the deluge finally settled onto the land? The turds floated to the top.

Start with a reporter linking to a story without taking the time to research if the author has any history of legitmacy, continue swimming through the sewage by linking to every rumor to swirl out of an "insider" site and culminate by being accomplices in a political stunt that three years ago would have barely mentioned a whisper.

Leave it to Peach Pundit to take a he said/she said story about a candidate throwing a tantrum over being excluded from a cocktail hour, declaratively state that it was really racism, then stand back and see who willingly runs into the shit bomb. (By the way boys, how many bought drinks are required at one of your little soirees to get that kind of good consulting?)

Of course, it was our new friends in the media who immediately sprinted towards the fire without pausing to notice the dirty diaper underneath. By the end of the sordid affair, Miss Political Stunt had four days of positive free press.

Welcome to the year of jubilee. They link to us. Well, they link to some while ignoring others. All depends on who's tidbits are the juiciest and reality be damned.

In other words, they act just like bloggers.

The Quotes -

Look, I’m not blind to the yeoman’s work done by a handful of “citizen journalists.” But can anyone provide me examples of a major local story that was broken by a blogger — one with no previous journalistic experience? ~ATLMalcontent, March 15, 2009

It is up to each blog to determine its standards for publication. ~griftdrift, July 30, 2008

We were both right. We were both wrong. So be it.

The Best Of The Drifts - Why Facts No Longer Matter

Originally published Dec 21, 2009 (I highly encourage you to click through because the comments are much more interesting than the original essay)

The Evolution Of How They See Us

"I'm not a journalist". It is the karmic shield Erick Erickson uses to defend his continued spew of rumor and innuendo. Rumor? Good enough if it matches the agenda. Verification? Why bother. Consequences? What's that.

And why should he bother? His methods seem to work in his favor.

Time to update the timeline:

February 2007 - Georgia Public Broadcasting's Susanne Capaluto states she would never quote a blogger.

June 2007 - Athens Banner Herald editor Jim Thompson declares mainstream's use of real names creates credibility

December 2007 - Athens Banner Herald's Blake Aued says "When y’all start doing your own reporting, rather than rely on rumors, press releases and the dreaded MSM, then you can call yourselves journalists"

July 2008 - Creative Loafing Editor Ken Edelstein questions how anyone can trust an anonymous blogger

April 2009 - Athens Banner Herald editor Jim Thompson says "In the end, then, whatever the media platform, what it means to be a journalist today is what it always has meant...It's not a matter of training...It's a matter of trust"

May 2009 - For the first time, the Atlanta Journal Constitution links to a non-professional non-political local blog - DecaturMetro

June 2009 - The AJC links without attribution to...TMZ

July 2009 - Jim Galloway comes to the stunning conclusion that Peach Pundit is not a journalistic outfit. Also, the first time "Erick Erickson does not consider himself a journalist" appears in print.

August 2009 - That stunning revelation does not prevent Galloway from linking to a Peach Pundit story about a "Draft Jane Kiddman" website. Despite the author's notoriety as a hyperbolic troublemaker and Jim's own recent discovery that Peach Pundit was not 'journalistic", the top political reporter in the state says the story should be "taken seriously".

December 2009 - With little possibility of verification, Erick publishes lurid details of an alleged affair involving the Lt. Governor of the state of Georgia. No sources. No evidence. Just what he's heard.

Less than two weeks later - Peach Pundit is called a must read by the Atlanta Journal Constitution and a local TV reporter. Blake Aued tells readers to go to Peach Pundit for coverage of the Capitol chaos.

A question for my journalist readers - are you proud we've reached this point?

The Best Of The Drifts - Fairness In Blogging

Originally published November 18, 2009

A Point Of View But Fair

A point of view but fair. It could be the organically evolved creed of this three year exploration of citizen journalism.

Long have I held the view that media as a whole is shackled by the unattainable goal of "objective reporting". (Having said that, before the furies of old world media descend, there is still a need for objective journalism, but it is part of the equation, not the whole.) The concept is now warped by 24-hour news cycles with powers-that-be seeking the modern day version of a live apartment fire. Readers and viewers, with some arrogance, spout the endless mantra of "just report the facts and let us decide" then scurry as quickly as possible to the latest report of a blonde girl snatched up by a crazed fanatic who force acts of debasement found only in the deepest recesses of the psychotic soul. We bathe ourselves in filth, then complain the news givers never provide cleansing water.

Objective reporting has its place but so does non-objective reporting and how we deal with the consequences of injecting the first person will determine if the form can be elevated or is relegated to an eternal mud wrestle with the Nancy Graces.

In my own world of first person reporting, I certainly do not hide my perspective but in order to maintain fairness, I've stood by three basic rules:

1. Research
2. Quote accurately
3. Give the other side a chance to respond

To the professional journalist, these are as familiar as shoes and socks. In our world, we still have a ways to go.

Monday, the admittedly biased Atlanta Progressive News released a "story" with "community reaction" to its previous story which reported mayoral candidate Kasim Reed's work as an attorney with Holland & Knight defending Cracker Barrel in a wage dispute case. APN noted Cracker Barrel's previous history of involvement in racial discrimination cases and noted the NAACP filed an amicus brief in the wage case. The tenuous connections of race to a non-racial issue caused lawyer blogger Going Through The Motions to brutally dissect APN's research and assertions.

APN's Matthew Cardinale defends his piece claiming that "we made it very clear that the Cracker Barrel case had to do with a wage dispute". He also noted the article clearly points to a separate race discrimination case. Although, he never clearly states it, Cardinale clearly claims the article was fair.

But was it? Let's apply my three rules.

1. Research - Shoddy at best. Obfuscating at worse. After giving great detail in the wage case, including the arguably irrelevant facts of Cracker Barrel's history of involvement in racial discrimination cases and the involvement of the NAACP, Cardinale points to a single case of alledged racial discrimination against a real estate firm. No details on the allegations or the conclusion. In the follow up article, once again quotes regarding Cracker Barrel are extensive, but no specifics about the second case. Perhaps, because there were no specifics.

2. Quote accurately - The whole of the quotes are in the follow up community reaction piece. We assume they are accurate since no one disputes them. Which leads us to...

3. When confronted with the lack of response from the Reed camp, Cardinale stated, "I've been doing this (APN) now for 4 years and usually have a good idea of when a PR department is going to respond, and when they aren't. So, I just didn't want to waste my time, nor my readers' time." Zero effort was made at giving the other side an opportunity to respond.

You might give a pass on the first - although it can certainly be viewed as selective research used to color the sky a particular shade of blue. There isn't much problem with the second. But the third - that sin is so dire it should never pass. A commenter claiming to be a journalist laid out the real world consequences of such a transgression, "I'd more than likely be fired. Maybe if I'm lucky I'd just be docked a week's pay".

I'm not bold enough to say my rules should apply to all. To each their own and let the readers decide what to believe and what is fair.

But if you can't follow these basic rules, then you should never get close to using the "j" word. And you're really quite a peacock if you attach some hopped up, unearned title like "News Editor" to your name.

The Best Of The Drifts - Constablegate: The Final Note

Originally published August 10, 2009

A Final Note On ConstableGate

The first piece I wrote about Kyle Constable/John Oxendine was pretty much straight up news. The second piece was more my first person journalism style. This final note will be pure opinion.

Having spoken both on and off the record to the Oxendine campaign and to Kyle, here is my bottom line take on the situation: The campaign acted very stupidly by engaging with a minor, but unlike some have recently said, I believe their intentions were innocent.

The reason I tied my piece to the ethics of blogging was not to pick on a 15 year old who may or may not have the knowledge and experience to understand the consequences of his actions. However, his actions are another episode in the never ending fight about how journalists, campaigns and bloggers interact and how closely do bloggers follow traditional reporting rules and that's a subject I feel compelled to note.

There are some out there who talk both ways about what on the record means and what verification means and they are not minors (at least one of these adults I believe had an influence on Kyle and his subsequent actions). However, since they were only tangentially related to this story, I felt the focus had to be Kyle and his actions.

But take it from someone who recognizes that these types of murky ethics will lead to another cycle of recriminations from traditional media, we know who you are, so does the public and it doesn't matter how many page views or hits you rack up, your reputation is in your hands.

And in this business that's all that really matters.

The Best Of The Drifts - Galloway and Peach Pundit

Originally published on July 23, 2009

Ahem, Mr. Galloway

I'm going to attempt to avoid profanity but it will be difficult.

Blogging is the new journalism, we’re told. And so all bloggers are journalists, right? Not really. ~AJC's Political Insider Jim Galloway

No kidding.

Let's get the karmic band-aid out of the way first. Jim Galloway is one of the finest journalists in this town and if the AJC ever lost him, I doubt they would recover.

Now.

For over three years, there has been a conversation in this town about journalism, blogging, where the two meet and where they don't meet. As far as I know, Jim Galloway has never been a participant. The ignorance of his statement bears witness to this fact.

My only personal interaction with Jim was when I went to the Newt Gingrich love fest at the Galleria. I introduced myself and he complimented my writing which was very nice of him. He then told me I was too late, they'd already talked to the bloggers.

Because you see - a blogger wouldn't attend an event to get a story - one would only attend to be spoon fed whatever was covered in the "blogger meeting".

Let me share something with you, Jim. Blogging is not the new journalism. Journalism does occur on blogs, although getting some of your cohorts to admit this tiny fact is akin to convincing a flat-earther the moon landings really happened.

And lot's of other things occur on blogs. We come in many varieties, cover many topics and we'll even admit we have different levels of quality. You see, we're not this monolithic creature which vomits the same thing over and over. And every time I hear a newspaper person, the supposed guardians of the truth, use this easy fallacy, my respect for your industry slips a little further.

Now, about Erick Erickson.

Jim's ridiculous statement led to an analysis of Erick Erickson's latest ugliness which led to the pearl clutching discovery that not all bloggers are journalists and perhaps the state's largest blog, Peach Pundit, is not a transparent temple of the truth. Get out the fainting couch.

If Jim was going to pick a finer example to portray blogs as non-journalistic, I couldn't think of a better one.

After all, over the years Peach Pundit has:

• Published a front page writer who failed to disclose his connections to campaigns and has published false stories. (By the way, Jim - Peach Pundit is the only Georgia blog I know where he wouldn't be booted on his ass immediately)
• Published anonymous tips without any attempt at confirmation.
• Been a vehicle for Erick's personal witch hunts. Witch hunts disguised as expose' but backed by evidence so thin, The National Enquirer would blanch.
• Witch hunts which skate perilously close to libel.
• And has generally chosen to use the worse characteristics of a political spin machine as its modus operandi.

Peach Pundit isn't a journalistic outfit? Tell us something we don't know.

Peach Pundit is a monument to ego (Jim, you should ask Erick about his rolodex - he's proud to brag it's bigger than John Oxendine's) which loves nothing more than to wallow in the mostly Republican mud but when called out, snouts up its few mealy-mouthed Democrat contributors (one who happens to be the aforementioned false reporting scoundrel) and squeal "Objectivity! Objectivity!"

But they are the cool kids, so of course the establishment runs to them for a good story. After all, they and the establishment slop at the same trough with the same obvious result emerging from the other end. Garbage in, garbage out.

Jim, just because Peach Pundit is the biggest and baddest doesn't mean they're the best. And just because they are the most popular doesn't mean the rest of us want to be just like them.

And you, Jim, are the best in the business at telling us things we don't know. Please, return to that rewarding venue and leave this isle of tropes far behind.

Congratulations Pye and Walls

Last night, the Atlanta Press Club held its annual award ceremony and two of our own were in the thick of it.

Congratulations to our friend Jason Pye of Jasonpye.com, Peach Pundit and United Liberty for his nomination in the Online/Multimedia category. Jason is one of the true voices of reason in the Georgia blogosphere. He is stubborn in his convictions and pointed in his perspective, but he also understands that continuing the community conversation and allowing the possibility of other viewpoints does not dull his own. Many could learn from his example.

And congratulations to winner in the Online/Multimedia category, Jim Walls of Atlanta Unfiltered. Jim is a testament to the labor, thorougness and deft stroke of a pen required to perform real journalism in our little world. He doesn't get near enough credit, from either his former pen and paper brothers and sisters or from us in the online community, for his consistent production of quality, groundbreaking stories. We should all do better by him.

Last night showed we've come a long way from the days when us byte-slinger upon entering those hallowed halls were met with hostility.

We've come a long way baby!

Photo courtesy of Grayson Daughters

The Best Of the Drifts - The Tip Of The Spear

Originally published June 22, 2009

The Tip Of The Spear

Blogs are Id. I suppose if you continue the analogy, staff reports are the Ego and features/columns/

investigatives are the SuperEgo ~griftdrift in a conversation with a traditional journalist

Developing a philosophy on media in our rapidly changing world is evolutionary, but a revolution may have shown us the way.

All discussions of media in a world of blogs, twitter, facebook and whatever comes next center on the question of "how do we make this work?"

For the moment, let's put aside the issue of how do we make money. No one has the answer and it only muddies the waters.

As we continued to navel gaze on the slow death of newspapers, the eventual death of the 6:00 news and the impact of both on our democracy, events in Iran accelerated the conversation far past our current mutterings and hand wringing.

Although many have framed the Iranian unrest as another "Twitter grows up" moment (they are coming with more regularity aren't they?), the side story of how CNN was apparently caught flat-footed is more interesting from an evolving media perspective.

In the opening days of the protests, CNN, who famously made its bones breaking huge international stories, was noticeably absent. Filling the void were the blogs of Andrew Sullivan, Nico Pitney and Juan Cole. Sullivan's place became a practical stream of conscience of every raw tidbit the maelstrom ejected.

As Twitter became the tool of choice for protesters, information which had been a trickle became a torrent.

Of course, both were rife with exactly the type of content traditional media decries as the downfall of new media - items were impossible to confirm and possibly blatantly false. The great weakness of new media is the possibility of manipulation by an unseen hand. As Iran devolved into a full blown cyberwar, it became nigh impossible to tell the truth from the truth spinners. The old internet adage of believing everything is false until proven otherwise certainly applied.

Sullivan and his cohorts were very clear that information passed along was unverified and should be taken as such.

Finally, into the breach stepped CNN. As the second week of unrest progressed, CNN with all its resources created an "Iran desk" with reporters interpreting images and speeches from a far, calling contacts in Iran and their greatest resource in these situations, Foreign Editor Christiane Amanpour, on air constantly (notably asking one of the most pointed questions at an Ahmedenijad press conference).

What had been a vast field of clutter was brought under the aegis of a massive media machine and began to resemble structure.

Oddly, the progression of media events in those two weeks mirror a common occurrence in the world of software - the merger of a smaller start-up with a traditional, heavily bureaucratized legacy. The only way these types of mergers work is if the agility of the start-up and the institutional knowledge of the legacy are both leveraged without either losing its identity. Failure occurs when either side insists on lockstep adaptation of a "preferred" culture.

Too often in the past, both sides of the media discussion have opted for the second methodology instead of the first. We recognize that we are not the same but we fail to recognize there is strength in that lack of sameness.

So, it is admission time and I am willing to go first.

We cannot do your job. There will be times when we perform parts of your job and I believe it has been shown in the past three years that we can do it with a level of professionalism and standards that should be acknowledged. But we can't cover a beat as well as you do, at this point we can't conduct investigative pieces as well as you do and we sure as hell can't cover an international conflagration with the level of detail and confirmation needed. We need you and it is far past time we admit this fact.

However, in a world where it grows more likely that a person's first contact with a story is a blog or facebook or twitter, you need us too.

We are the tip of the spear but you are the haft - both needed, one for first contact and one for weight and direction, to enable the whole to reach its target.

The Best Of The Drifts - Credibility

Originally published September 18, 2008

Credibility

Credibility is a word much bandied these days.

We are told that in this internet world where the abililty to tell a story is as simple as clicking a hyperlink, the traditional media is a refuge of credibility. We are assured the layers of "editorial processes" is a vanguard against myth and rumor. We are told that those who use their actual names as opposed to pen names are more trustworthy. We are told many things.

Yesterday, Atlanta Journal Constitution Assistant Editorial Page Editor Jim Wooten published a story regarding the hacking of Republican Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin's email indicating that "sleazy political operatives are so unnerved by the prospect that Palin lit a fire under Republicans and is drawing more women and Independents to McCain that they’re willing to break the law". No evidence is given. No elucidation follows. These political operatives are never identified.

In fact, it was already known the apparent hacker boasted his deeds on an internet community known less for its politcal persuasion and more for its ability to cause chaos. This small morsel of information was ignored in order to feast on a meal of polemical vapors.

Confronted by the absence of fact in the piece, the AJC's response is no one knows the politics of the perpetrators therefore there is no factual error.

This is credibility.

In July of this year, Atlanta blogger Andre Walker reported the Democratic Party of Georgia had pressured the Georgia Association of Educators to withdraw its support of Senate candidate Rand Knight. The story was based on anonymous sources with no corroboration and quickly fell apart - forcing Walker to issue a retraction and an apology.

That same month, it was discovered Walker failed to disclose money received from a political candidate who he portrayed positively on his blog. Once again, although this time after much pressure from the Atlanta blogging community, he was forced to admit he should have acted differently.

Yesterday, Walker was quoted in an Albany Herald article alledging unrest within the Democratic Party of Georgia over the replacement of a Dougherty County School Board candidate. He indicated members of the Executive Committee were unaware of the actions of the party in the matter and presented as evidence the now familiar claims of anonymous emails and phone calls.

This is credibility.

We listen to those inhabiting the towers of higher learning warn of falsehoods and fraud. We are told about guardians of democracy. At times, these guardians whisper totemic phrases to mark that which they deem credible.

We are told many things.

The Best Of The Drifts - Blogging Ethics

Originally Published July 30, 2008

Into The Ethical Woods

I'm not going to pile on. Really, I'm not. Although given the past arrogance of Georgia Politics Unfiltered owner Andre Walker (eagerly chastising his fellow bloggers, not crediting those who get a story first, not so humbly bragging about his traffic in comparison to others and perhaps tellingly, not supporting his fellow bloggers unless they are associates), it would be easy to do. Wait, maybe I just parenthetically did.

But there is a bigger issue at play here.

Atlanta Progressive News outing of Andre as a stooge for the David Scott campaign exposes every person who writes about politics through the veil of a blog to criticisms we've all heard too often. Only this time, the nabobs can roll out an actual incident as proof. The already steep hill we travel just had a Sisyphus stone added.

Ken Edelstein, Editor of Creative Loafing:

For that matter, how can the average reader even tell who bloggers actually are when they use pen names like Rogue109 (another Peach Pundit poster) and decaturguy? It’s a principle of the blogosphere that people get to be anonymous. That may be an unavoidable part of the nature of the medium. But if influential bloggers are anonymous, how can you where there bread is buttered?

I've already covered anonymity. It is a fact of life of online existence and it would behoove us all to understand it. To not and continue using it as a rhetorical baseball bat instead of scalpel would be as fair as me using the term journalists so generally as to cover both Seymour Hersh and Jayson Blair. It is neither fair nor accurate - terms I'm sure Edelstein and his fellow print jockeys treasure.

But it is fair game. And due to Andre's sin, all the careful work of the past years trying to bridge this gap of understanding may unravel. Andre credits few but now his actions have tarred many.

And of course the act of one stray in the herd leads others to the trough of self-loathing.

Juliana Illiari of Blog For Democracy:

"I don't think anyone who blogs believes there are standards and practices right now. You'd have a hard time finding anyone who could agree. It's basically, use at your own risk this information, by virtue of its very nature. Anyone can get them, they're free. You read it and you have to consider what the opinion is"

Love ya, Jules, but that isn't quite right. True, the blogosphere is the free market of ideas gone wild and you will never see me shy away from telling people to obey caveat emptor. However, there are some rules that anyone who dares use the word "publish" with their work should follow. They are plain common sense and we all know them.

Two words for all bloggers: Source and disclose.

Sourcing is the murkiest of waters for bloggers. By the very open nature of the online world, bloggers receive information as clear as press releases and as opaque as anonymous tips. It is up to each blog to determine its standards for publication. However, the further one goes down the dark hall of anonymity, the greater the risk becomes. Andre experienced this less than deadly sin earlier this year by publishing a story based purely on anonymous sources. The poorly sourced house of cards quickly fell apart and Andre issued, to my knowledge, the first open retraction in the history of the Georgia blogosphere.

Disclosure is much easier. If you wear a sock puppet don't pretend your arm magically turned into a talking creature. If you take money tell your readers. Sock puppetry is one of the deadly sins of the online world. Few recover crossing this hard line.

Given his rather public penance, Andre may have survived the first sin, but given the severity of the second, his credibility may never recover.

And thanks to his latest "contribution" to the our little world, we will all be required to work a little harder.

My own disclosure: I've never taken one penny of money from a campaign or anyone else. The closest money has ever come to my little world was a brief period where I consulted for Insider Advantage on strategies to approach bloggers. Something which I fully disclosed at the time.

Preview Quotes

Two quotes which will be relevant in the near future:

Look, I’m not blind to the yeoman’s work done by a handful of “citizen journalists.” But can anyone provide me examples of a major local story that was broken by a blogger — one with no previous journalistic experience? ~ATLMalcontent, March 15, 2009

It is up to each blog to determine its standards for publication. ~griftdrift, July 30, 2008

More soon.

Reflection On Libel

Nearly three years ago, on the subject of accountability in blogs, I wrote:

...you are going to tell me it logically follows that a libeled party would willingly spend the bags of money required in lawyer fees to go through a multi-year libel case against a big-daddy-corporate-behemoth like the Atlanta Journal Constitution instead of firing off a Cease and Desist letter to my hosting company which would have my blog wiped out of existence almost the minute the thing hit the system administrator's inbox?

Now, we may discover if my theory holds any water.

Candidate for Governor Ray McBerry is threatening to sue "three individuals" for libel. Although he does not specifically name SWGAPolitics or Jeff Sexton's "reports" on McBerry's alleged inappropriate relationship with a teenage girl, there is little doubt the blog is one of the targets.

UPDATE: A commenter points out the "three individuals" could be the girl, mother and step-father. I have to admit that makes sense as well. I guess we'll have to wait and see what McBerry does. Then again, this is politics, this could all very easily be a flash in the pan that's forgotten in a couple of months.

The Best Of The Drifts - Atlanta Press Club Meets The Bloggers

Originally Published on June 7, 2007

Facing The Beast

If I'd written all the truth I knew for the past ten years, about 600 people - including me - would be rotting in prison cells from Rio to Seattle today. Absolute truth is a very rare and dangerous commodity in the context of professional journalism. ~Hunter S. Thompson

"Did you guys sit up here so you can throw things", I quipped to Amani, Amber and Rusty who sat on the front row of the Brown Room in the Commerce Club.

By nature, bloggers are a rough and tumble bunch. We are not insulated by brick, mortar, cubicle walls and layers and layers of editors and legal teams. Every day, we throw our stuff out to the world and expect to get some thrown back. Living in the harsh evolutionary world of online communities, we also instinctively give back as good as we get.

So, of course we sat on the front row.

We had gathered for the Atlanta Press Club's discussion on "New Media: The Changing Landscape". The panel consisted of Mark Bauer of WSB-TV, Lea Donosky of the Atlanta Journal Constitution, Lila King of CNN Interactive and John Patton of ThePort network. Given this particular make-up, I placed the over-under of those sitting behind name cards understanding our world at 1. I really do not like losing. Good thing there wasn't a bookie around because I would have lost a bundle.

It didn't take long for the fireworks to start. The second question of the evening questioned the credibility of blogs. A hilarious side note. I discovered later the person who posed the question was not even a member of the press. According to friend standing nearby, she was a woman who just wandered in off the street because she was bored.

But no matter the source, there it was. The dreaded "c" word. The discussion became heated at times with such phrases as "gatekeepers" and "guardians of democracy" tossed around like poor hapless cows caught in a tornado. At one point, a person even painted bloggers as "entertainment". Hadn't heard that one before.

Then something interesting happened. The panelists interceded. Mark Bauer told a story of working at CNN in the early days when the network was not even allowed in the pool at the White House. Lea Donosky pointed out the first "citizen journalist" in this country was Thomas Paine. She even called out her fellow press members, including some of her co-workers, on certain preconceived notions.

It was difficult to say if minds were changed. Certainly, some of the stalwart defenders of the old ways were not swayed. It was hard to not be frustrated when someone who claims to be a "guardian of the truth" continues to repeat urban myths about the quality of new media. But, if the panel and the people who approached us afterward were evidence, the voices of disbelief and wariness continue to fall by the wayside.

And the conversation will continue. We in the new media will continue to challenge those in the traditional media. We will continue to agitate. We will continue to defend. We will continue to demonstrate we are more than entertainment. And we won't be hard to find.

We will most likely be the ones sitting on the front row.

You can hear a podcast of the panel discssion here.

It All Seems So Familiar

To my knowledge, prior to January 2009, no Georgia blogger had written extensively about the GPB show "Lawmakers". Then, something strange happened.

January 13, 2009 - The first entry of "Gonzo Lawmakers" appears on Drifting Through The Grift

January 28, 2009 - Peach Pundit's "Pete Randall" posts the first ever "Lawmakers Drinking Game"

Probably just a coincidence.

January 25, 2010 - After a delayed start, "Gonzo Lawmakers" re-appears for its second "season".

January 27, 2010 - "Pete" starts another "Lawmakers" open thread. It regurgitates many of the items noted in the first few entries of Gonzo Lawmakers. Including a notation for the first time that the "reporters" are actually interns.

So. Where is the line between coincidence and creative theft?

Mary Margaret Oliver Is An Idiot

Despite the obvious desire for beer and the sunglasses, I don't think I'm too frightening. A little shady perhaps, but frightening? Apparently Rep. Mary Margaret Oliver thinks so.

Have you read the blogs? There’s a negativity and a hate-mongering that’s frightening to me.

It takes a whole heap of stupidity to get me to agree with Peach Pundit's resident clown.

The Rest Of The Top Ten

I have no time for this anymore. Here is the rest of my top ten blog stories of 2009. If I get to them, I get to them.

1. The Flood
2. Republicans Implode
3. John Henderson, ATAC and Crime
4. The Mayors Race
5. More Media Turmoil (AJC Shrinks, Ben Eason out at CL, SoVo closes)
6. The Governor's Race
7. The Town Halls
8. The Eagle Raid

Feel free to discuss among yourselves.

Into The Ethical Woods - The Final Word

If these things don't happen, I'll have egg on my face and I'll probably deserve it ~griftdrift, 12-7-009

On the day I wrote the Cagle story, my number of visitors nearly tripled. The following day, even though I did not write a word, I still received nearly double my normal visitors.

This is a conundrum.

Erick Erickson reported the story as fact, providing lurid details that I did not. Yet, he still receives information from insiders and is linked to by the major dailies who proclaim Peach Pundit as a "must read" .

This is also a conundrum.

We deal in a world of devils. Political operatives use us. Many of us use them right back. It is an elegant dance of give and take based on the belief that everyone can win. As long as everyone follows the appropriate steps, no one cares who leads, for everyone believes they lead.

To understand the nature of the dance, one has to understand the motivation of the dancers. Some wish to get their message published. Some wish to destroy their enemies. Some seek influence. Some seek prestige. Some seek cold hard cash.

All I have ever sought was the story. And this time I didn't get it.

It won't happen again.

Into The Ethical Woods - Griftdrift Edition

I've been bothered all day.

On the personal side, you may have noticed, I've been stepping further away from politics lately. A combination of shifting priorities and the sheer ugliness is driving me away from my favorite past time. It has been a quiet relinquishment - a slow break up.

But like a moth to the flame the Richardson story followed now by the possible Cagle story sucked me back in. What today has taught me is I do not like these stories. I wish I could rend the flesh of my prey the way my idol did back in the day, but I just don't have it in me. These are real people - not pieces on a political chess board as some would have. The universe has balance and I believe it does not take kindly to those who attempt to rise by climbing a pile of bodies.

As a writer, I've entered murky territory. In the past, I have prided myself that I've only published stories that I believed would stand up to scrutiny by the professional reporting class. Now, I find myself publishing a story no one on that side of the fence appears eager to touch (at least not yet). I know they've got it. I know they have everything I have and probably more.

Here's the fact which cannot be casually passed - even though I argue that a non-professional can report a story accurately and with relevance, there is a difference between a blog seen by a few hundred people daily and a media outlet that is seen by tens of thousands if not millions. I have the power to be an annoyance. They have the power to bring down a government. You have to respect this reality.

Dozens of times today, I've questioned if I should have published. My conclusion is although I may have dipped below my usual standards and certainly the standards of the professional class, there is fire beneath that smoke.

Bottom line - I stand by what I wrote.

To those in places of power who I know are regular readers, if you think I'm wrong, I'll be glad to hear it (off the record of course). You know how to reach me.

If you, my other readers, do not think this is correct or moral or professional, you have the same choices which have always been available - chastise me publicly, chastise me privately, continue reading but think less of me or stop reading all together. It is the risk I take every time I apply word to virtual paper and one which will not daunt me from facing the heat and light future stories may bring.

The Evolving Blog

Andrew Sullivan nails it.

It's a clearing house for views and ideas and videos and art and argument and anecdote and reporting that create a community of discourse. It's as much your blog now as mine. The posts from readers are just as informative and often more enlightening than my own. Yes, I'm still writing or editing or approving almost every post, but the flow of conversation increasingly leads me, rather than my directing it. As I've noted before, I'm more of a DJ now than a traditional writer. The Dish is always sampling, re-mixing and generating its own music in the interaction with others.

This evolution is why I think, although they are no longer the kingpins of social meda, blogs will never go away.

It also reminds me that despite all my new found commitments, I need to get bloggy with it. I'm working on a couple of pieces about the mayor's race and hopefully will have them up before I flee for the country tomorrow.