Franklin Foer may not be entirely insane

Over at The New Republic, Franklin Foer has put up a very short editorial piece which is raising some hackles across both sides of the blogosphere. His basic premise seems to be that the left is making a mistake by vilifying the New York Times and the Washington post to such a harsh degree.

Last month, I wrote a column against the Mainstream Blogosphere. I argued that the MSB has made a grave mistake in relentlessly attacking the credibility of the New York Times and Washington Post. For decades, conservatives have been trying to shred these institutions. Now, the left-wing bloggers have made common cause with the media's conservative critics, trying to bring down the "mainstream media." The NSA domestic spy story has provided a powerful case study in why the left's attack is so dangerous. Here, the Times has exposed an important example of Bush's imperial presidency, a potentially pernicious violation of civil liberties. Instead of praising the Times for excellent reportage and bravely bucking presidential pleas to bury the story, the MSB has heaped disdain on the Times. They have trashed the Times for sins ranging from throwing the election to Bush to turning a blind eye to these abuses. (Hey, Atrios: When was the last time that you exposed such a big story?)

The Bush administration has opened a new front in its war on the press, and the press has no defenders. Thanks to the MSB's sweeping, reckless criticisms, the Times has lost much of the credibility and authority that it needs to mount a robust defense. For this, the bloggers deserve some credit. Well done, guys.

There are two sides to every coin. The "MSB" representatives in question were quick to respond. Atrios insists that the left simply wants the MSM to "please do your jobs better."

Armando from KOS comes a bit closer to the truth, I think.

There are many fundamental problems with Foer's construct. The most fundamental is his mixing critiques of the Media's PERFORMANCE with the IMPORTANCE of the role the Media plays.

Look... it's not like we haven't been harsh with the MSM in general, and the Gray Lady in particular around here. Ron has dropped the Times from the right hand column, and I replaced their RSS feed on Running Scared with the feed from NPR. They have been a disappointment on many, many occasions. This does not, however, mean that they have lost all value, or are now somehow less important than the bloggers.

Foer's question to Atrios is a valid one. When was the last time Duncan Black, or any blogger besides the professional MSM journalist who also happens to blog, broke a story like the NSA snoopgate scandal? Never. "Regular" bloggers (read: pajama clad ankle-biters such as yours truly) simply don't have the resources, the access, the connections, etc. required to dig in and come up with that kind of story. It just doesn't happen. We're always going to need the "real" journalists, and yes... that includes the ones at the New York Times, to do the heavy lifting for us in those areas. So in a way, Foer is correct. We need to remember to give some praise when they do things right and recognize the contribution they are making to the public discourse.

At the same time, that doesn't mean, as Atrios pointed out, that we can't stay on their heels to do their job properly and fess up when they seriously drop the ball. Breaking the snoopgate story was important. It was huge. We owe the Times a debt for that. However, getting snowballed by the White House and sitting on the damned story for at least a year, (possibly since before the last election) was egregious. It's rather like the Times baking us the biggest, most wonderful birthday cake in the world and then dropping it in the mud just as they deliver it. We still got the cake, but it would have been nice if it hadn't been so tainted.

I'll keep listening to the Times, the Post, and all the rest, and I'll give them credit when it's due. I'll also continue to call them to task when they screw up. We do it to our politicians, and there's no reason we shouldn't do it to the press as well.