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Left-Wing Blogs Try on Extortion as a Business Model

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allyzay
04/09/09

In reply to Left-Wing Blogs Try on Extortion as a Business Model
hey, kos et al, ever heard of ad networks? i mean jesus this is what american spectator looked like yesterday:

you can pay your bills without shaking down non-profit organizations, assholes. get one (1) business manager over there.
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Mike Jahn
04/09/09

In reply to Left-Wing Blogs Try on Extortion as a Business Model
I spent several months last year in nonstop slandering of Sarah Palin and didn't get so much as a bologna sandwich.
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blix
04/09/09

@Mike Jahn: Take comfort in the fact that among moose you are a god.
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Perhaps Not
04/09/09

In reply to Left-Wing Blogs Try on Extortion as a Business Model
What's this muffling all the sanctimonious "journalism should be objective" howling in the far-left echo chamber? Why... why it's giant wads of sound-absorbent cash!

Congratulations, shills. You are now merely less successful at huckstering for bucks than Fox News.
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eatsshootsleaves
04/09/09

@Perhaps Not: I think it's acceptable for journalism not to be objective (in fact, throughout American history we've seen that times when the press was most ideological was also when people were the most politically active and informed). I think it's even acceptable to promote fundraising for a political candidate or an interest group. The problem comes when you are tying your coverage of a candidate or an interest group with that candidate or interest group paying you, instead of your actual feelings toward a candidate or interest group. That's completely intellectually dishonest.

I've never really liked any of these bloggers (except Crooks & Liars, damn), but the hypocrisy and corruptness on display is incredibly surprising.
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If_I_Had_a_Poodle
04/09/09

@Perhaps Not: objective journalism got totally pwned by the bush era of people who felt ok just standing up and telling lies
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Kari's Favorite Mark
04/09/09

@Perhaps Not: These guys are not journalists nor do I think they really hold themselves out as such. They're advocates, pure and simple, for a particular political view, and that's what they do and they do it well. They are partly responsible for the success the Dems have had and there's no reason why they should continue upaid. Limbaugh and O'Reilly get paid, why shouldn't these guys?
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Perhaps Not
04/09/09

@formerly it takes a lot to laugh: That's not a bad point (although Limbaugh and O'Reilly do claim to be - and O'Reilly is sort of right - journalists), but I'd argue that these guys are representing IDEAS, not individuals. Liberalism is a great idea; Ted Kennedy is an idiot. If Ted Kennedy pays you to report on how great he is because he's liberal and then kills somebody with his car, you're suddenly in a pickle, whether you agree with his professed philosophy or not.
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Kari's Favorite Mark
04/09/09

@Perhaps Not: Yeah, but they're asking for ads from think tanks and advocacy groups, not individuals.

Fox' advertisers (corporations) have agendas but for some reason when Fox advocates lower corporate taxes or less regulation, no one complains about how their agenda matches up nicely with their advertisers'.
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Perhaps Not
04/09/09

@formerly it takes a lot to laugh: I complain about it all the fucking time!
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ADismalScience
04/09/09

In reply to Left-Wing Blogs Try on Extortion as a Business Model
So what we're saying is that lobbying groups should advertise political messages to their most dogged, frothing advocates on platforms who don't even claim objectivity. Come on blogs, at least the New York Times does the whole fig leaf thing with guys like Kristol. And Rupert Murdok occassionally apologizes for when his mouthpieces are racist or reactionary. That's the trouble with blogs - they're too good at finding an audience; one specific audience of like-minded groupthinkers.
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eatsshootsleaves
04/09/09

In reply to Left-Wing Blogs Try on Extortion as a Business Model
I think you've got this wrong. I don't know if it's a useless idea for these organizations to advertise on liberal blogs. Sites like Daily Kos actually have a proven fundraising capacity -- remember the Michelle Bachman backlash? Never underestimate the power of angry people with money.

You're right that people who read liberal blogs already have a propensity to give money to PACs and campaigns. Additionally, people who read Cat Fancy magazine have a propensity to buy twinkling balls, but that doesn't mean that it's a bad place for twinkling ball manufacturers to advertise (quite the opposite).

And yes, the comparison of Daily Kos readers to kittens chasing after shiny toys with bells on them was entirely intentional.
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allyzay
04/09/09

@eatsshootsleaves: it's not wrong for these organizations to advertise on blogs -- it's basically wrong for these blogs to shake them down and treat these organizations as if they are their only possible advertiser. that's the issue here.
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eatsshootsleaves
04/09/09

@allyzay: Yeah, I know (see another comment I made for this post). But the post also says that there's no valuable reason these organizations should advertise with these blogs -- which I don't think is true.
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Lymed
04/09/09

In reply to Left-Wing Blogs Try on Extortion as a Business Model
Journalism, they're doing it wrong.
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If_I_Had_a_Poodle
04/09/09

In reply to Left-Wing Blogs Try on Extortion as a Business Model
[apps.facebook.com]
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Silverbackne
04/09/09

In reply to Left-Wing Blogs Try on Extortion as a Business Model
Congrats, New Media. You're now just as petty and corrupt as the Old.
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Sproing
04/09/09

@Silverbackne: Moreso. Old Media doesn't link coverage to advertising, or at least avoids the appearance of doing so.
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