I want to give props to Washington Post writer Jose Antonio Vargas for his fair story, "Storming the News Gatekeepers." Jose has the eyesight foresight to describe me as "a cross between Meryl Streep, Chita Rivera and Pam Grier."
More important, he told me his piece would be insightful and it was. Who knew that in demanding transparency and accountability in government, politics and the media and promoting civic engagement, citizen journalists – we, the people – were being Orwellian?
Andrew Keen, author of "The Cult of the Amateur," told Jose:
People are becoming Big Brother, either with a camcorder or a keyboard, and following the candidates around. It’s ridiculous. You can't just be a great journalist, the same way you can't be a great chef or a great soccer player.
I don't want to "rant" so I'll let Peoria Pundit have at him:
1. Blogging and citizen journalism is Orwellian (a term that means government control the media for the purpose of controlling what people think). The Internet is mostly ungoverned by any government, and has done more to spread diverse points of view and provide access to sources of information than any other innovation since the invention of printing press.
Blogs and citizen journalism have given INDIVIDUAL PEOPLE the power of the press. And THIS is Orwellian? It is the antithesis of Orwellian. The book 1984 was about the masses being under constant monitoring by the government, which limited access to information through control of the media. Today, we have the masses putting the government and the media under scrutiny, then disseminating the information they get to anyone who wants it.
2. Bloggers with keyboards and camcorders are becoming the new Big Brother.
Keen has himself performed an act of Orwellian doublespeak that would have amazed even George Orwell for its audacity.
3. Citizen journalists cannot be great journalists.
Really? And just who decides who is a great journalist? Usually, the journalists themselves are happy to tell us. But in the end it is decided by news consumers… And every day across this nation, citizen journalists are doing acts of journalism that won’t appear in the journalism school textbooks. Citizen journalism as a whole has done some amazing reporting at the national level. Perhaps Keen’s arguments are self-serving, as the mainstream media itself has been the target of some of this reporting. Rathergate anyone?
Although he's yesterday's news, I would add Trent Lott to the casualty list.
