Much has been and is being typed about what C(reate)BS knew and when it knew it. Donna has linked to several quite in-depth looks into some of the potential whys and wherefors of the ongoing debacle...
but has anyone besides me noticed that nothing really changed?
Okay, the bloggers have gone from the keyboard to the bathroom, and presumably from pajamas to... uhh, nevermind, but let's face it; Rather is retiring, not being fired or censured in any manner, Mapes is still on staff and might eventually have to go to work for another station, but probably won't change her tactics...
in short, business as usual.
In what looks very like another demonstration of just how complacent a people can become, the network-watching public seems quite ready to mimic the DNC and shrug. The DNC has looked at a continuing (and strengthening) movement away from power and responded by embracing ever more vehemently the far left principles which fomented that motion. They just plain don't want to see what went wrong. In similar fashion, it would seem that while quite a few people know that something happened, few know what 'it' was, and fewer still care. C(reate)BS enjoys the worst ratings of the 'big three' network stations, but I submit that the news is a small portion of why that is so. It's not just a river in Egypt, you see.
In a previous post, Donna pointed to an article which links one of the people who seemingly wants to play the 'it's just a boo-boo' card, (though he points out that this isn't Rather's first such *ahem* little misunderstanding) and caps it with this little gem:
Rather has done a lot of good work over the years, and the notion that he was driven by liberal bias is ridiculous.
Now, I don't know what color the sky is on Dan Kennedy's world, but he sure isn't on the same planet with me and my cat. Too, while BummerDietz goes deeply into the potential trouble C(reate)BS could be in, there's precious little mention in the rest of the media that any investigation is even necessary. There was a brief flash, but the dust seems to be settling...
everywhere but here, in the blogosphere.
And that, friends, is the real story. The blogosphere is not letting go of this one, nor should they. (I respectfully decline membership in that august body, I got here long after the storm was fully formed) The Networks are going to soft-pedal as much of this whole thing as they can, and I submit that it is for two reasons. One is that any real attention shown to the damage Rather's stunt, and the subsequent closing of ranks around him, did to their (the networks') position as a credible news sources can only harm them. They missed the chance to take their lumps and apologize, now they have to either continue to stonewall, or admit that ratings are the only important thing. The other is only a surmise, but I wonder if the networks aren't looking at the emerging powerhouse which is those people in their jammies (or their bathrooms) at their computers, telling people the stories the networks don't want them to hear?
So the networks will do what they can to avoid anything that smells like accountability, and they'll face it just the same. Calling the bloggers names won't save them.
