Blogs Cause Confusion as Opinion is Interpreted as Fact

That the Election 2008 media coverage is biased is supported by the numbers. According to a Time article this morning, "McCain's Bias Claim: Truth or Tactic?", there were 17,455 articles about the presidential campaign during a six week period this summer. Obama received 38% more coverage than McCain, with the McCain articles 33% negative compared to Obama's 31%. It's also far more likely to find Obama's face on magazine covers than it is McCain's. This is due to the rise of an 'unknown' and the popular demand for analysis and information. Lately, the introduction of Sarah Palin to the scene has resulted in the same sort of "media feeding frenzy" that the Obama camp has enjoyed thus far.

As if the mountain of news stories about the campaign aren't enough to boggle the mind, blogs are contributing to the inferno by adding scores of undocumented, unresearched, unverified, unqualified opinions that only serve to cause and perpetuate mass confusion, near hysterical hate mongering and the spread of misinformation.

In my opinion, based on the above reported facts, it would be more honest, responsible and fruitful for bloggers to emphasize that what they present is opinion only. Be responsible in your writing and publishing because it is valid and valuable. That the press acknowledged the influence of what you write makes it so. Use the power wisely or we will all lose our credibility and voice.