MSM Arrogance here in Wisconsin

It appears that the pressure of the blogosphere and what it's doing to his reporting is causing Stew Rieckman, a reporter at the Oshkosh Northwestern to lash back at bloggers and their readers. He says, "The mainstream media plays by a set of rules." He doesn't like the idea that the blogosphere can offer anonimity. He even says, "I'm a certified member of the mainstream media." He says that with his editorials, even though passions can run hot, the exchange of ideas is always open and respectful even when we agree to disagree. Hmm.. When? Do they always get voiced? I have a theory and will be putting it to the test Rick. I'll see how far dissenting voices from your ideology will be heard. See his editorial here.

I will finish with a comment offered by one of my blog participants in an article called, "Anonymity and the Blog" A reply to the article said:

Adams and Paine were the first bloggers!!

The better your rhetoric and argumentation, the more likely it is your ideas will prevail. To me, this is the real value and beauty of this or any blog.

A strong argument must begin with a premise; strong unassailable logical argumentation that follows from that premise will almost always win the day. The typical response to such powerful mind-work is emotion. When people are put to the task of laying out logical arguments (or emotional responses) that have strong philosophical premises, it is important for anonymity to an option. Some ideas are perceived as taboo, but nevertheless carry strong logical weight. Other ideas may even imply revolution… It might be difficult for some to make arguments they secretly harbor if they might face the potential of personal embarrassment, or worse.

The most important example of the righteous power of anonymity is none other than Thomas Paine. I would hope that all readers of this, or any blog, would remember that The Revolution was instigated by anonymous writers posting notes on trees in Boston. Common Sense was published anonymously. We owe our very freedom and liberty to men of great intellectual power who chose to write under either a pen name or anonymously.

Lastly, you have people, the case that comes to mind locally are teachers, who may very well be at odds with the government's education monopoly (unions, etc). If they put their names out here, there would be many potentially troublesome problems for them in the short run. Administrators, board members, union leaders, and students would all be able to stereotype such a person making their day-to-day job potentially untenable.

Testing out ones skill at argument is one of many benefits of a blog. Being able to do it anonymously is a beautiful thing. Samuel Adams and Thomas Paine were the original bloggers! Blogon!! by bildanielson

Cross Posted at OnTheBorderline