Eason Jordan

I'm a little late getting in on the Eason Jordan discussion, mainly because this story took off in the blogosphere at warp speed and left me watching from my horse and buggy. Michelle Malkin covers the story and its backlash, including a list of the bloggers who drove the story.

Mainstream media is undergoing a tsunami--not just about Eason Jordan--and they're trying to come to terms with the aftermath.

What strikes me about the story of Jordan's resignation is the way the mainstream media is analyzing this. A good example is an interview of Hugh Hewitt by Judy Swallow of the BBC. Hugh posted a transcript of the interview on his blog. Swallow's first question reveals the focus of her interest: "JS: Now, journalists, or so I was told when I was a local cub reporter, are the people's watchdogs, but who keeps a check on the journalists? In this newish age of the internet, the bloggers say, they do.... First bloggers contributed to the end of CBS anchor Dan Rather. Now, a top executive with CNN, Eason Jordan, has resigned.... How did they do it?"

A top executive with CNN has resigned, and Judy Swallow wants to know how the bloggers did it. She doesn't ask what Jordan said that upset people (He said he believed the US military was intentionally targeting journalists and killing them.), or whether there was a pattern (There was. He made similar statements in November, 2004, about the US military torturing journalists.) or whether the things he said deserve to have him resign or be fired. She only wants to know about the power of the blogs.

Her second question: "JS: So it is just power of the people because they brought down Dan Rather, didn't they, because they found out or it was reported that his report was based on false evidence. Was it just word of mouth, word of mouth, word of mouth and finally strength of public feeling?"

Her third and final question: "JS: You see this as power of the people not vigilantes, if you like?" The questions are all about the blogs.

Picture the mainstream media pre-blogosphere/tsunami. The lay of the land is of their own making. For forty years or more, they have controlled what information is disseminated to the masses and how that information is presented. Their choice of stories has driven public opinion, ruining some careers and elevating others. When they were inaccurate or misleading in their reporting, they printed a nearly invisible retraction (or not) and nobody was the wiser, except the few people who knew the truth. But the truth-knowers had no way of getting that truth out.

A minor case in point: Probably ten years ago, when I belonged to a Jeep Club, one of the news magazines (most likely "60 Minutes," because I didn't watch any of the other ones) had an expose on Jeeps and their purported propensity to roll over. One woman blamed Jeep for the death of her husband (with 60 Minutes' implied confirmation) when they were off-roading and the driver's front tire went off the dirt over about a 3-foot drop. Her husband leaned over to look, and the Jeep fell on top of him, killing him. As an off-roading Jeeper, I (and the other club members) could tell from the pictures that the man had taken off his seat belt before leaning over and tipping the balance of the Jeep. If he had kept his seat belt on, he wouldn't have died. It wasn't the Jeep's fault.

As Jeep club members, we all knew the 60 Minutes story was a hit piece against Jeep, but there was no forum for us to have reached the public with the truth. Jeep caved and soon came out with their wider YJ (Wrangler) model.

Now, with blogs, there is a forum for the truth. It's proven itself to be a powerful force--a tidal wave--and the MSM is reeling. The solid ground of information control they stood on for so long has been deluged by the waters of the blogs, and for MSM, that is the only story they see.

"How could this happen?" they ask. "How could these pajama-wearing, knuckle-dragging basement dwellers force our hand with news selection, and even destroy some of the highest and mightiest journalists? And how do I know I'm safe from them?"

Just as the real tsunami in the Indian Ocean has carved new coastlines and changed some people's way of life for a long time to come, so the blogosphere tsunami is carving out a new landscape for journalism. Bloggers are not here to destroy (in spite of what MSM may believe). They're here to help find and bring out the truth. And MSM's journalists will do well to adapt to the new lay of the land.