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blue bits. red rocks.
Monday 30 April 2007

Journalists grant anonymity to people so casually to spout off about even the most commonplace matters that, at this point, I’d say there is at least as much anonymity in mainstream journalism as there is in the blogosphere. It’s amazing how commonly journalists use the manipulative technique of inexcusably granting anonymity to one individual to do nothing more than voice a garden-variety political view, and then cite that anonymous statement as the basis for a whole story supposedly documenting a “trend” that exists only in the reporters’ imagination. And the notion that bloggers have ushered in an era of personal attacks and mean-spirited political commentary should be too inane for anyone to voice. The 1990s were characterized by our most prestigious media outlets following the lead of Rush Limbaugh and Matt Drudge by endlessly discussing the spots on Bill Clinton’s penis, the sperm stains on Monica Lewinsky’s dress, and Hillary Clinton’s lesbian-fueled murder of Vince Foster, followed by Al Gore’s emasculation at the hands of Naomi Wolf and all the other petty, snotty personality-based fabrications which decided the 2000 election. Glenn Greenwald

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