Whew, all right, so I didn't get accomplished today all that I wanted to. So many posts, so little time.
But, I was on the TV tonight for the first time. Some Comcast show in the Northeast called NiteBeat (you know it's cool because it flings orthodoxy to the wind when spelling "night.")I was on talking basic blogging stuff and the Lamont/Lieberman race with Bill Scher of Liberal Oasis.
Thankfully, it being my first foray into the TV thing, Scher is a very civil, good-humored guy. Or maybe he's just walkin' around on that Nedrenaline high. Don't operate heavy machinery!
We talked about blogs, who writes 'em, whether you can trust 'em, whether we live in our mother's basements (for the record: no for both Scher and me), how to start your own (totally plugged the site, boss!). Good times, until we got to the Reuters story, which the host implied wasn't that big a deal because the photo wasn't "completely fabricated," just messed with a little.
Huh?
That led into a discussion of how the "disputed" Rathergate memos were used by the conservative blogosphere to intimidate the media into-- get this-- not attacking the President. Dang, if that was the goal, it must have been some of the gall-durn worst intimidation I've ever seen. "Yes, I'm Rainbow Brite, and I'll be teaching your Media Intimidation class today."
Scher argued that, while conservatives want to intimidate the media, liberals just want to help them get better. I argued that, while there is a strong anti-MSM sentiment on the right, informing Dan Rather in no uncertain terms that there is a price to be paid for filing reports with FAKE memos on a national show on the eve of a nation election is a perfect way to help the media get better.
Then there was the whole "fake but accurate" argument, employed by host and Scher. If it were real life (not TV), I would have said, "Whoa, back this Crazy Train up, and tell Conductor Kos that I wanted to get off at the last stop, waaaay back there!"
Instead, I think I said, "I'd just like to entirely disagree with everything Bill just said," or something equally stodgy and dignified. Ha. The standards for journalism these guys are willing to accept as long as it helps their guy are utterly ridiculous.
Anyway, good times. I have no idea if I looked and sounded like a total goober, but it's altogether likely. If you have confirmation of that fact, please try to keep it to yourself (and send me a copy). Hee. If I rolled my eyes at the memo thing, I apologize. That was rude.
'Night.
UPDATE next day: I forgot to mention all the perks of being on the tube. The green room is actually green-- a very tasteful sage color-- and has a sweet flat-screen TV in it. Also, I got free ginger ale, poured in a glass, on a coaster. That's classier than I ever do it up at my house.
I left with a tiny goody bag of gourmet popcorn and some fancy coffee. Man, no wonder people do TV. No one told me about the free ginger ale.
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