Time For A Blogger Ethics Panel....or, How I Learned to Stop Fact-Checking and Love The Pwn3age

Unlike most other people I know, I don't have much of a problem with The Buffalo News. Sure, it swipes most of its national news stories right off the AP wire and Douglas Turner is an absolute embarrassment as a political writer...but, overall, it's not a bad way to start the morning.

Unfortunately, the only paper in town has subscribed to the reactionary position of blaming blogs for the ills in society. To wit, managing editor Margaret Sullivan layeth the smackdown on Blogistan in last Sunday's paper:

And, on a deeper level, how much should we be concerned that we are playing a
part in perpetuating dirty politics? After all, the common fare of blogs — which
often have their own axes to grind and their own less-than-admirable motivations
for publishing — often does not meet the standards of a responsible news outlet. (Emphasis mine)

"Oh wake up, Maggie... I think I got something to say to you..."


(from the front page of Monday's Buffalo News):

Nicole Kidman may be joining fight to save Buffalo's Studio Arena Theatre

(from the front page of today's Buffalo News):

Report of Kidman’s Studio Arena crusade called fake


How could this be, you may ask.....wouldn't a reputable publication like The Buffalo News double- and triple-check such a shocking and out-of-the-blue story? Eh...not so much:

Monday: "Show business Web sites reported Sunday that the film and stage megastar is challenging fellow A-list actors to help her raise money to revive the Main Street regional playhouse, which suspended operations early this year under the weight of a $2.9 million deficit..."

Today: "The report, posted to the Web site PR-inside.com at 8:20 Saturday night, claims that Kidman told reporters...that she 'expressed hope that one or more hugely charismatic New York City theater figures . . . pass the hat' for Buffalo’s struggling playhouse. But the article also contains an alleged quote from Kidman that mirrors, verbatim, a comment made by the theater’s managing director, Iain Campbell, in July and printed in The Buffalo News.

Catherine Olim, Kidman’s publicist, told The News she found the story “highly suspect” and noted that Kidman did not arrive in London until Monday. That contradicts the claim that Kidman spoke to reporters in London on Saturday.

“We have no knowledge of this, and [Kidman] is filming out of the country. If we find out, we’ll let you know if it’s true or not,” Olim wrote in an e-mail.


So, the enterprising newsies down on Washington and Scott interpreted one, random PR site to be mulitple "show business Web sites". And rather than take the 5 minutes to, you know, look through their own archives from the previous month or, heaven forbid, e-mail Nicole Kidman's fucking PR flack to make sure this wasn't a giant wankoff story, they decided to publish it as is. Nay, put it on the front page, above the fold!

This is surely an embarrassing day for the News and, frankly, they deserve it. Not only for the shoddy reporting and laziness in trumpeting this sham of a story (probably giving poor Kathleen Gaffney at Studio Arena a stroke in the meantime). They deserve to eat some public crow after taking such a condescending and arrogant attitude about blogs.

"axe to grind"?
"less-than-admirable motivations"?
"does not the standards of a responsible news outlet"?

Ladies and gentlemen, that describes your Buffalo News to a T. Any paper that publishes Charles Krauthammer and George Will on a continuing basis has a lot of gall to call out anyone else for bias and unprofessionalism.