Bloggers and the Rather Report

Radio host, author, major blogger, and blogging acquaintance Hugh Hewitt is concerned that the response of the blogging world, the very group of people who first uncovered what's come to be called Rathergate, has lacked the ferocity he expected and apparently wanted. He says that the "Heisenberg Principle" is at work.

In essence, what this principle says is that the act of observing alters the thing being observed. In this situation, according to Hugh, bloggers, anxious to maintain their newly-earned credibility, are holding their fire against what Hugh regards as a "whitewash" in the Thornburgh report on Rathergate.

But I have a different, less elaborate theory. Bloggers are holding their fire because, whether they agree with every particular in the Thornburgh report, they see it as being essentially fair, just, and cleansing.

No matter the biases that exist in the Mainstream Media, Richard Thornburgh and his team can hardly be credibly accused of a whitewash!

Nor do I think there is good reason to criticize CBS's response to the report. People have lost their jobs and new procedures are being put in place to see to it that Rathergate isn't repeated.

In fact, when coupled with the way Tribune Media Services handled Armstrong Williams' unfortunate foray into checkbook punditry, I would say that the Mainstream Media has given a good accounting of itself over the past few days.

There are plenty of reasons to criticize the Mainstream Media. It is intrinsically biased toward the negative and the sensational, for example. Many journalistic practitioners are biased to the left, I think. But all of us also ought to be willing to give applause when applause is due. Perhaps not as many heads rolled as a result of the Rather investigation as some would like. But on balance, I think fairness has been served.