When blog hysteria does real harm

October 30th, 2005 at 22:10 Björn Hallberg

Remember that student, Joel Henry Hinrichs, who killed himself with a homemade bomb? Remember the allegations that were flying around at the time? Remember how all of those turned out to be wrong? I guess some people are trying not to. That is why articles like this are so important, lest the right wing lynch mob get away with their fallacies and return to fight another day.
The article also brings up fake journalist Michelle Malkin as a case study for the frenzy that followed.

The mainstream media can be arrogant. But the bloggers and their readers are sometimes too willing to accept trafficking in rumor and speculation as a process from which the truth will ultimately emerge through the self-correcting power of debate.

By the time it emerges, too much damage may be done. If the ”citizen journalists” want respect, they must hold themselves and one another to higher standards of accuracy.

Entry 301 filed under: Media. This entry was posted 3 years, 1 month ago. RSS feed for comments on this post.