In the Twitter-Verse, CSGV apparently was not able to deal with the free exchange of ideas.

I am far form a Twitter Aficionado but, Isn’t blocking access to your messages counterproductive to your cause? Not that I mind one bit though.

I did a quick check on the Usual Suspects’ Facebook pages (VPC, Brady, CSGV, etc.) and I was disappointed to see that they offered nothing new or substantial for me to get my wookie suit on. If anything it appears that their foothold on the social media is weak and support minimal. I am just guessing here but I am thinking people are not buying their storylines anymore since they have to answer our questions and people now have access to information that previously was tightly controlled or just unavailable. They don’t hold a monopoly on the spread of information and that drives them crazy, they hate being challenged by clarity and truth.

A couple of days ago, I was polled on the phone right after the Obamacare SCOTUS decision. I was asked where do I get my news & information and after a bit of thinking I had to admit that it was via the Internet only. Unless it is a major event going on live either locally or in the country, I really do not check on the news via boob-tube and it has been many years since I subscribed to the Miami Herald. If there is a copy lying somewhere, I might pick it up and spend all of 5 minutes through the whole paper and shake my head at the pitiful lack of content which mirrors their online version.

News has stopped being something we meekly intake by the Accredited Media and has become an active two way process. You tell me something and I will double check what you just said with other sources, seek alternative opinions and then decide if you are blowing smoke or telling me the truth on a subject matter. The news corporations unfortunately have driven us to question every byte of information they publish which is a good thing in the end because we know treat every advocacy group the same way.

“I am a real reporter, not a blogger out somewhere.” That is what Juan Williams said not too long ago to Michelle Malkin when they were discussing the Fast & Furious boondoggle. Yet, barely 2 weeks later, the Attorney General of the United States is held in contempt of Congress for refusing to release DOJ documents regarding the scandal brought to the light by two bloggers and this is not the end in this case. Most of Accredited Media had been ignoring Fast & Furious and now they are trying to catch on or whitewash the whole issue, but the tons of information available on line is making that impossible plus it is harming their reputation even more because they look both useless and complicit.

The blogosphere is a constant source of information and opinion with thousands upon thousands of fact-checkers and resource finders available one click away. If you lie on purpose on line, you will be subjected to derision by your readers. If you need more info on a subject, people will give it to you, if you make a mistake, people will tell you and provide the correct info and sources to back it up. This kind of checks and balances cannot be afforded by the Accredited Media or even bother to seek it. Their pride is so gargantuan that they will not issue a correction unless they are thoroughly embarrassed and brought t the inconvenient spotlight and then only a half assed attempt will be made.

The Future Professional Journalist will be somebody within the Accredited Media who will have to be in contact with his readership as much or more than with his sources. The old days of Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein needing two sources to confirm a story are long gone because, what happens if both are lying as is the case when dealing with politicians? But a couple of thousand of online fact checkers will keep the Future Professional Journalist in the straight and narrow providing the best information available. And also humble because Pride goeth before falling flat on your face just like what happened to Juan Williams.