"BLOGGERS" TO TODD & THE DISPATCH

Admin - Posted on 14 June 2007

"You've got to be kidding us."

Joe Hallet's Dispatch shows, once again, that it doesn't know the first thing about blogging. Yesterday City Hall reporter Robert Vitale published a column on the Dispatch's blog that was more or less an unfiltered opportunity for Bighead Bill Todd to take the mic. Quoting Bighead, the article states Todd has absolutely "no interest in going there" regading Frankie's alcoholism. I'm calling BS, and I'm calling Vitale and the Dispatch either stupid or complicit for publishing Todd's statement without a critical look. The article went on to state:

That doesn't mean the Republican's supporters are on the same page.
One conservative blog is not only the YouTube source for several Todd campaign videos but also the 9-minute, 41-second Bexley Police tape of Mrs. Coleman's 2005 drunken-driving arrest.
One poster at the site referred to coworkers' suspicions about the contents of Mrs. Coleman's Thermos as "the most amusing part" of an Ohio Inspector General report concluding she was paid for hours she didn't work at the state Department of Development.
Todd isn't laughing along with his supporters in cyberspace.
"I'm beginning to think all these guys in the blogosphere need a good spanking," the Republican said.

Ok, Vitale I really want to cut you some slack since you're new to blogging, but you're also making some gigantic journalistic errors by not digging into Todd's statement. So BSB's got a few tips for ya.

#1: When a blog does something positive or negative, don't refer to the collective pool of millions of bloggers with a seeming wave to the Internet. We live and die on our credibility. You do a disservice by smearing us with Todd's Statement. Republicans, namely Right Angle Blog are responsible for the actions in your piece. RAB is also the blog that houses the campaign footage of Todd that you refer to. I don't house that footage, make those allegations about Frankie Coleman, or support that filth. Neither does Plunderbund, Psychobilly Democrat, Writes Like She Talks, or any of the other progressive leaning blogs out there. Don't lump us all together; that's poor form.

#2: Did you think to question Todd's statement at all? Maybe just a little bit. Afterall, the blog referenced throughout your entire piece is the same blog that is run by someone that was in an "advisory role" (as described by Eric Cameron Forbes, Todd's Political Director) to the Todd campaign for the first few months of this campaign. We are yet to find out for sure from financial disclosures whether money trasnfered hands. So, putting on my "real journalist's cap" for just a minute, sounds a little fishy that Todd is claiming a separation from a blog his own campaign says "is great".

Seriously guys, try to work a little harder.