The Rookies

Dear Jay,

My name is LittleWaynesBleedingHead. Well, not my REAL name, that’s my blogging name. And that’s sort of what I want to talk to you about. I was just wondering if we could have a little chat, blogger to blogger.

What’s that you say? You’re NOT a blogger?

Oh, but Jay, at this point, you most certainly are.

But that’s really just semantics, entirely beside the point. No, what I’m here to say is I get it. I get it, man. I can understand why you’re upset.

You went to journalism school, you put in the hours interning at the city desk of some crappy weekly. Now all of a sudden these “bloggers” think they can just waltz in here and do your job?

Well, I’d be right upset if I were you, sir. Right upset indeed.

And then, these very same bloggers that are trying to take your job, they start getting more and more attention, their audiences are growing by leaps and bounds. By God, they’ve created a platform for themselves.

And they’re starting to break stories.

And they’re starting to criticize you.

That’s gotta suck, right?

I bet it sucks.

And they don’t even have to follow AP Style guidelines!

This is a terrifying turn of events, threatening the very way you make a living.

So no, I can’t blame you—or any other member of the mainstream media—for trying to temper the blogging world. In your eyes, they were way out of line, and they don’t have editors to answer to.

But guess what?

Some of these people, these basement-dwelling bloggers, they can WRITE. They can write their asses off, Jay. They’re funny, they’re informative, and they often provide a much more accesssible point of view on an event than a 20-year veteran of press row can.

Now, are there many, many blogs that pander to the lowest common denominator, openly and unashamedly using scantily clad women to attract pageviews?

Yes, sir.

But as you pointed out, the New York Post exists, too. Gotta learn from somewhere, right?

Now, then, on this whole Erin Andrews mess: I missed the part where AJ Daulerio offered a reward for the first video of Andrews naked. I missed the part where a Peeping Tom needed the approval of the blogosphere to be a pervert.

And don’t tell me this is different from traditional Peeping Tom voyeurism because he used technology. Times change. THIS is sadly what can be considered a “normal” form of perversion nowadays. Back in the day it was Bluto Blutarsky sneaking his ladder up to a girl’s window.

Now? He’d probably just sneak a web cam into the bathroom.

We don’t know much about those responsible for this utterly heinous invasion of privacy, but we do know this: They’re human. And humans do terrible things to each other.

That was going on long before blogs existed, and it will go on long after they’re gone.

So Jay, I can understand that you feel threatened, and I can see how this situation would seem a perfect way to drum up the MSM troops against us basement dwellers.

But trust me, we feel just as bad about this as you do.

Some of us feel worse.

So I’m not going to yell and scream and call you ignorant. (Well, not this time.) I’m just going to shake my head, move on, and hope that this whole sorry mess can get cleared up so everyone, especially Miss Andrews, can carry on with their lives.

Because, Jay, this isn’t about blame. It’s not about being right or wrong.

And it’s not about me or you.

Sincerely,

LWBH

Lesson of Erin Andrews: Grow Up, Boys! (FanHouse)