#spinewatch - help the media "grow a pair"

photo - Luke Thomas - Fog City Journal

I don't 'subscribe' to many blogs. I wish I could follow more but I really don't have the time. there are a few, however, hip, seedy and informative, that I check religiously. One of them is Craig Newmark's blog. He, of course, started Craigslist and is quite honestly one of my living heroes. Really Jalew? Yep. Really. If your familiar with his path, his personal choice NOT to sell out one of the internets most used and potentially most profitable web sites and his passions and projects outside of running CL, then you understand why. The man stands for A LOT and it ALL is to OUR benefit. That said, I would like to share this from his blog..

#spinewatch: Help the media regain its spine

There are good signs that the media is resisting bullying from the McCain/Bush/Rove axis, and we should encourage 'em. They realize that the reporting some years ago regarding WMD was, maybe, not so good, and they're starting to report on the bad guys again.

Jay Rosen of PressThink and NewAssignment.net has a great idea, let's encourage the press by cheerleading them on Twitter:

Spread the meme. Use #spinewatch for key links and quotes showing the press beginning to hit hard on McCain's "facts don't matter" attitude.

I use the following to track #spinewatch:

http://search.twitter.com/search?q=%23spinewatch

I've seen at least one McCain scammer operating.

Steve Outing noticed right away.

However, Rachel Sklar has the best observation I've seen:

Please note that, though Fey stole the show with her Palin (never mind the look, wow did she ever nail the voice!), the best line of the entire show belonged to Poehler's Hillary: "In conclusion, I invite the media to grow a pair. And if you can't, I will lend you mine." BRAVA!

UPDATE: #spinewatch is spreading:

Good commentary here

here's a good aggregation of comments like:

from Michael Kingsley:

"The media have trouble calling a lie a lie, or asserting that one side is lying more than the other -- even when that is objectively the case. They lean over backwards to give liars the benefit of the doubt, even when there is no doubt. Objectivity can’t be objectively measured. What can be is balance. So if the sins of both campaigns are reported as roughly equal, the media feel they are doing their job -- even if this is objectively untrue."

Disclaimer: I encouraged Jay to do this and have supported him in a very minor way to find new ways to fund investigative reporting.