Local: How many bloggers does it take to replace the Mainstream Media? Six
Posted in Local with tags Chamber of Commerce, District 150, PACC on February 3, 2009 by Billy DennisSomeone posted this comment on a different post. I deemed it too interesting and informative to let it languish there:
I thought your readers should know that Roberta Parks the EO of the Chamber of Commerce who wrote the Chamber press release accompanied representatives of the District on a trip to California to look at Charter Schools. It would be interesting to know who paid for this trip. If this is true, she is clearly biased in favor of the district and that should have been disclosed. Also, an fyi to Roberta – there are more than 6 people who participate on the Peoria blogs.
There are just six of us? Is that how the Chamber defends its indefensible defense of the school board’s miserable management of our schools? ‘This is just six bloggers out there getting everyone all riled up.’
Seven years ago, there was just one. There are HUNDREDS of Peoria bloggers now. Most don’t blog much at all. Depending on your definition, there are maybe a couple dozen who comment on politics and government. If you must apply a number to those who are doing their best to shed some light on District 150 and raise the heat on them, I put that number at no more than six.
Apparently, that’s enough to get ‘em good and mad.
But even if even if there were just six people who operated blogs, that doesn’t count the commenters. Certainly, they are not a unified group. But they have one thing in common: They don’t sit on their asses waiting for official pronouncements from The Powers That Be to tell them how they should think and feel about anything. They tend to be people who go out and get the info first hand. They don’t necessarily trust the media or the sources that feed reporters the info they need to crank out copy to fill the blank pages and empty air time that greets them as they start their work days.
You see, in the old days, people like those in the Peoria Area Chamber and Commerce could easily write off a handful of critics. They know how the game is played. They know how to manipulate the media. They know that the newspaper bosses and the advertisers tend to see things their way anyway. And back then (God, it seems so long ago, doesn’t it?) if the media was on their side, that was it. Game over. There was no real way to get critical information out to the audience, unless you want to lick a bunch of postal stamps.
So writing off six critics as cranks could work. Not so much now, thanks to the Internet.
Look at the mainstream media. Have any of them done any reporting on the details of the audit report that former Journal Star reporter Elaine Hopkins pointed out? The PJS editorial board was quick to come out and support District 150’s plan to close schools. The bloggers — filling the news media’s FORMER watchdog role — provided critical thinking and looked deeper than the shallow sound bites the media were being fed.
So that’s why we have six or so people sitting at their computers cranking out criticism of Peoria’s silly school bosses, the tax increases for museums and the bad roads and sidewalks.
Because someone has to.
