More thoughts on the Blogs For Terri effort
…from Superhawk at Right Wing Nut House:
The Eason Jordan story was driven to the fore of mainstream media coverage as the direct result of the excellent work and tireless efforts of many of the larger blogs.
The Terri Schiavo tragedy has played itself out largely on the fringes of the blogosphere. The work by bloggers has been just as excellent and just as tireless as those who brought Eason Jordan to account. But the probability is that Terri Schiavo will die because of the indifference of most of the larger blogs to what those of us farther down the food chain are talking about.
This disconnect spells nothing but trouble for this new media. When something as vitally important as the euthanizing of a relatively healthy but brain damaged woman gets lost in the daily dish of gossip, news, and commentary found on the larger sites, one has to ask some penetrating questions about the nature of this new media and what will drive it forward.
I’ll add here what I said in comments over there:
BRAVO! Well said! And obviously not written in the heat of passionate fury as my two posts about this idea were… :wink:
I’ll add one point–they do actually write about social issues to an extent; i.e. Michelle Malkin’s writings about Kid Rock’s (supposed) invitation to perform at the Bush twins’ inauguration party, about the oversexualization of the culture, etc. Hugh Hewitt writes about social issues as well–or at least he used to. (This is one of the reasons why I regularly read their blogs.) Those are just a couple of examples off the top of my head, without even looking for more–and it further begs the question, why not this social issue?
“Mainstream blogs,” by the way, is exactly what I’ve thought for quite some time. In the ice cream analogy, they’d be the Breyer’s or Edy’s that you can get anywhere. WE (smaller blogs) are the Ben & Jerry’s, or more as I prefer, the Godiva ice cream. High quality, selected by a few, and not known to everyone. I personally don’t mind that, either, as a smaller scale keeps one closer to the readers who make blogging enjoyable.
I’ve come to the conclusion that the “mainstream blogs” have decided the cause is hopeless; Hugh Hewitt basically said so yesterday–although I notice he has removed the statement that said so since then. What he and the others apparently don’t realize is that we are trying to educate the public about the side of the issue that the mainstream media has virtually ignored, and we are trying to encourage Terri’s supporters to write letters and make phone calls to those who can have a direct impact on the case. Who better to do these things than bloggers? Isn’t this basically the reason why we bloggers are here in the first place? To work as advocates for the causes we support?
M.E. says:
Good post! I sent an email to Hugh about this (others did too; “Sensible Mom”, for one), and I’d also posted earlier that I felt like we were in a blog ghetto on this topic. Anyway, looks like Blogs for Terri may eventually start to swing some attention toward Terri and the MSM falsehoods.
Dan says:
Okay, if you’re the Ben and Jerry’s I wanna be the whipped cream! NO wait, you play the whipped cream! I like that scenario better. Are you getting any rest?
NIF says:
Still down, but not out
Today’s Dose of NIF!
NIF says:
Still down, but not out
Today’s Dose of NIF!
Riehl World View says:
Terri Schiavo
For more information about Terri Schiavo and her family’s fight to allow her to live and finally receive the rehabilitative services she needs (and has been denied by her husband), please see TerrisFight.org and BlogsForTerri.
Alnot says:
Terri’s case is not hopeless and anyone who says that has a shallow understanding of what can be done this poor lady has had her rights violated in so many ways and we should all let the political animals know our displeasure at that. I for one would not vote for Jeb Bush ever again if he allowed her to die. I am tired of waiting for the state and federal government agencies to enforce the laws already on the books that should have saved Terri from spending years without services or seperated from those who love her. I think a major stink should be raised before any more people are abused.