The rise of citizen journalism. Everyone is talking about it. Soon, the citizen journalist will rise up against The Man and eclipse those mainstream corporate media outlets, finally freeing the intellectual plebeian masses to “get the story out” and rock that vote!

Or maybe not.

Herein I examine two cases of citizen journalism on Dailykos and one on The Inquirer, the culmination of all which leaves me wondering if — perhaps — we ought to register and license journalists as we do physicians and attorneys.
Bush is a rotten president. The Media are bought and paid for by the Republican Party, and all act to serve the interests of Bush, Inc. In fact, even ESPN manufactures boos and cheers depending on party affiliation. davefromqueens knows this for sure, because he heard the clicks.

For several years, ESPN has been manufacturing fake cheers and fake boos for politicians.  It’s a very simple rule. If you are a Democrat not named Joe Lieberman, ESPN will play a tape of boos previously recorded and insert them into the audio after the Democrat is announced.  If you are a Republican and ESPN is expecting boos, ESPN will play a pre-recorded tape of cheers unrelated to the Republican.

[…]

When John Kerry was shown on screen at a Red Sox game in 2004, ESPN played a tape of boos.  It was NOT the crowd reaction.  I knew the tape was fake by that quick click that transitions from live to pre-recorded.  ESPN has done this stunt of playing fake cheers and fake boos time and time again. Last night, during Monday Night Football, ESPN did it again.  I heard that same click.

That is all davefromqueens has to back up his assertion that ESPN fakes crowd cheers for political purposes. Yet this diary garnered over 600 comments and made it to the recommend list. davefromqueens wrote two more diaries to prove his claim – one including video footage of the event. What he failed to accept, even after some commenters pointed out, was that a “click” or a video of the event is no proof of management policy whatsoever. He obtained no quotes from insiders within ESPN, no corporate documents from ESPN, and no proof of a long term pattern of boos or cheers for specific political parties.

Without those facts, his assertion is toast. At least it would be in a traditional media establishment that follows academic guidelines for journalism sourcing and ethics.

jacksonthor doesn’t like Bush either. Hey, it’s dkos – who does? But jacksonthor knows something none of us do: just like Mark Foley, it appears that George W. Bush is also a pedophile! Who knew? Because, according to jacksonthor, he knows someone who claims to have been targeted for molestation by a then twenty-two year old Bush when she was only fourteen years old.

“I told him I was underaged, and he said if the cops came, we wouldn’t get in trouble because of who he was,” the woman said, repeating a familiar line of the rich and privileged Bush often uses to this day, a comment that gives her case more credibility since it sounds just like what Bush would say.

There was little doubt in this woman’s mind that Bush wanted to get her drunk and take advantage of her — even though he knew that she was only 14. “He apparently wanted me to get drunk,” she said. “He knew I was underaged and finally left me alone.”

She’s an anonymous source, however. So, we’ll just have to accept the diarist’s word because, “[if] she came out and used her name, can you imagine the harassment she would receive?”

But one thing is for sure, this is but one example that shows a pattern of Republican pederasty – because – he linked there so it must be true!

Finally, meet Charlie Demerjian. He and I grew up together, were good friends, and I still care for him — so I’m particularly appalled by a lack of factual standards for his published work. But, unlike the kos wannabees, he has a real bully pulpit in the form of a regular gig at a commercial news site. In his latest informative article, we learn that Hewlett Packard is firing people and then hiring them back for lower wages:

The latest trick comes in with the field service personnel, specifically levels two and three. If you are canned from HP, instead of the normal severance package that they offer(ed), you get a big anti-bonus. It seems that HP decided to offer them all jobs, normally a good thing, but this time, it is a way to bend the laws to avoid severance.

What HP does is they tell you your old job is done for, and offer you another one. The level two and three folk are offered a level one job with a $6-12 an hour pay cut. Strangely enough, one mole tells us that it is the exact same work you have to do, same crap, different title. If you decide not to take the generous new job, you just quit, and they don’t have to pay you a damn thing. It is Convergys and Sitel all over again.

That’s half the article, any more and I’d be violating copyright law (perhaps I already am). But, rest assured, Mr. Demerjian has no quotes, no internal documents, and no request for comment or rebuttal from HP public relations.

Is there any reason why we should not regulate this kind of defamatory speech? And I’m a freaking Democrat who voted against Bush and very much wants the Republicans to lose the next two elections. Just not at the expense of factual news reporting. As for HP – well, all I know is that the article proved nothing. What’s the purpose of news without facts? Ahhh, yes – to disparage and defame.

Welcome to citizen journalism on teh intarweb!!1!1!!!!11