Give a Guy Some Credit, Part 2

Until Kurt Vlach resigned, you couldn't read a word about him anywhere but Real Debate Wisconsin. That wasn't for lack of trying, either. Fred tried to get the attention of someone, anyone, in the mainstream press. For whatever reason, the story was treated like a big, wet turd.

Now that Vlach has resigned, the MJS is forced to grudgingly acknowledge Fred's role in the events. Take a look at how they do it.

In that second realm he wielded enough power this week, he says, to bring down a top Racine County Democratic Party official.

Note the usage of the words "he says." Take those out, and they're actually giving credit where credit is due.

And on Monday, party chairman Kurt Vlach resigned, citing family obligations and time constraints and denying that Dooley's blog had anything to do with it.

Nice excuse, Kurt. It's too bad that this is the standard double-speak excuse used by every public figure who's running from something. If family obligations and time constraints are what keep politicians from being effective, why does anybody bother running for office in the first place?

The MJS article goes on to talk about libel and its impact on blogging. Basically, it reads like a poke in the eye to Fred for going public with the information. You can almost hear teeth grinding over at the paper as you read. Take this line:

"I think we'll see journalists trying to define more clearly what it is they do that's different from citizen journalists, and perhaps we'll start seeing more analytical or interpretive types of reporting as a result," Allen said.

Well, this report was a good start in that direction. They tried so hard to define the difference between journalists and bloggers, without making it seem like that was the intent.