It has been an eventful week. On Wednesday, Argus Leader executive editor Randell Beck let loose a tirade against "the internet" in response to the emergence of the Bombshell Memos. Beck unwittingly kindled an outcry from the blogosphere. The most powerful response to Beck's comments came from Andrew Sullivan, whose criticism of Howell Raines, the former executive editor of the New York Times, was a factor in Raines' eventual resignation from the NYT. It's worth recalling Andrew's remarks as we await Beck's weekly column tomorrow:
AN EDITOR LOSES IT: The editor of the Sioux Falls Argus Leader cannot take any criticism from the outside about the blatant bias displayed by one of his key political reporters. Money quote:
The internet is both a good and a bad thing. The bad is that it has allowed people who hate to distribute their vitriol anonymously, um, using gang emails, using blogs, what have you, with barely a shred of proof, manipulating facts, to perpetuate an ideology. And it's a truly sad thing. And I guess that I would suggest that I’m not going to dignify that kind of crap with an answer.
Using blogs to criticize newspapers? How sad. How awful. How terrifying. I think we've hit a nerve here, haven't we? When you stumble onto the truth, it sometimes hurts.
Will Beck respond thoughtfully and substantively in his piece tomorrow?
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