Not that I am one, but Franklin Foer takes the acronym MSM (Mainstream Media), and tries to turn it back on bloggers, and in the process totally misses the point he was trying to make:
Last month, I wrote a column against the Mainstream Blogosphere. I argued that the MSB has made a grave mistake in relentlessly attacking the credibility of the New York Times and Washington Post. For decades, conservatives have been trying to shred these institutions. Now, the left-wing bloggers have made common cause with the media's conservative critics, trying to bring down the "mainstream media." The NSA domestic spy story has provided a powerful case study in why the left's attack is so dangerous. Here, the Times has exposed an important example of Bush's imperial presidency, a potentially pernicious violation of civil liberties. Instead of praising the Times for excellent reportage and bravely bucking presidential pleas to bury the story, the MSB has heaped disdain on the Times. They have trashed the Times for sins ranging from throwing the election to Bush to turning a blind eye to these abuses. (Hey, Atrios: When was the last time that you exposed such a big story?)
The issue in Foer's eyes is that liberal bloggers should be defending the MSM because the MSM is liberal, therefore liberal bloggers and the MSM are, de facto, on the same team.
What Foer doesn't want to acknowledge is that while conservative bloggers have relentlessly attacked the MSM for having a "liberal bias", the liberal bloggers are criticizing the media for abdicating any sense of responsibility the MSM claim to have. Foer, and others pat themselves on the back for doing little things here and there, and when the New York Times publishes a story that exposes the biggest abuse of power in American history, yet sat on the story for a year, there is a sense of "how dare you!" when the criticism starts raining down.
The pundit class makes it clear that they don't feel that domestic spying rises to the class of scandal. With the diminishing line between reporter and columnist in the nations most popular dailies, this lack of concern gets transmitted to the front page.
Until the MSM acknowledges the master to servant relationship that exists between the Bush administration (master), and the MSM (servant), there can be no honest debate. The NY Times sat on this story for a year, and the
NY Times management wont tell us why. We can speculate, obviously the White House doesn't want them to, and has no problem
summoning people to the White House to make their position clear. But to feign ignorance when the liberal bloggers criticize the media for their whorish behavior, when they have spent the last 10 years doing everything in their power to shed the liberal moniker is disingenuous at best.
