Generally I have argued that The Washington Post has done a better job than, say, The New York Times in adjusting to the changes brought about by the Internet.
But this misstep should make the editors think about a comment by washingtonpost.com's Opinions editor Hal Straus in recent days:
"Washingtonpost.com hires writers for their ability to add something substantive to the national conversation. As best as possible, we look for that ability regardless of political labels."
In this case I have yet to be convinced Domenech was adding anything "substantive" to the conversation and it is sounding increasingly like a large chunk of his writing was lifted from other authors.
Bloggers can bring something good and intelligent to the national conversations. But the Post needs to think about which bloggers it is picking and, at a minimum, screen out those with a checkered past.
In this case Marshall McLuhan was wrong:
The medium is NOT the message. The messenger must also be well chosen. The Post chose badly. Hopefully, next time they will choose better.
Meanwhile, Joel Achenbach, a Washington Post writer and blogger, has added his thoughts to this specific conversation, saying he sheds no tears to the elimination of Domenech from the Post's version of March Madness.
Article comments
1 - Scott Butki
No thoughts in this case?
Jay Rosen - as usual - has a good piece on this at Pressthink.
2 - S. L. Cunningham
It's good to see that "blogging" continues to have the potential of being absorbed into mainstream media, which I think it is, but at the same time, it's also good that they're are people willing to serve as "gatekeepers." People who can write, and do, will eventually rise to the top, but those who think they can simply lift from here and there and present their work as their own will be found out more quickly.
3 - Scott Butki
Excellent point, S.L.
Just being anyone can blog doesn't mean everyone is good at it or has something useful to say.
4 - Scott Butki
Dang typos.
I mean to say
"Just because" anyone can blog doesn't mean everyone is good at it or has something useful to say.
5 - Scott Butki
I'm writing a follow-up piece on this story tonight.
6 - T
Blogging to me has the illusion of truth...it seems people still readily believe something because they read it..this is troubling as there are many who have no rhyme nor reason to want truth but they hold some kind of power in the blogging world...news has done a great job of distorting the truth...now blogging has taken this distortion to a new level..
7 - Matthew Milam
So if you can't trust blogs or the news media, what do you suppose we do?
People aren't as socialable as they used to be, and don't really care for politics or anything remotely serious.
To quote Jack Lemmon, about the only thing people care about is that they don't want their taxes raised.
8 - Scott Butki
Some bloggers can be trusted, just as some people can be trusted.
I updated this this story here.
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