Hansell lies, AP spins and the blogosphere smears [ UPDATE ]

The whole backstory to the AP vs. Rogers Cadenhead fiasco is already posted at the Media Bloggers Association site. Go read it. And here's Rogers version, by the way.

In discussing all the whisper campaign unleashed by the enemies of Barack Obama, I mentioned once to some fellow bloggers that The Rumor is The Smear. You don't have to have evidence of a tape of Michelle Obama backing cookies in the shape of a sickle and hammer. The Rumor is the Smear.

With The Rumor alone you can destroy an opponent with never having to demonstrate a shred of supporting evidence. The Rumor calls the rather strong heard-instinct in Americans. The Rumor is like a Siren-song and whomever creates the strongest Rumor, will be able to command the attention and control the point of view of the majority of the herd around them.

The Rumor taps into this country's collective need and penchant for psychopathic collective hysteria. Remember the Salem Witch Trials. Enough said.

Bloggers and now many journalists, have started gaming audiences with "The Rumor". Larry Johnson exponentially exploded his traffic with his dishonest "pro-Clinton" smear and rumor campaign against Michelle Obama. Perez Hilton has created a media empire around the rumors and innuendos he creates about the celebrities he covers. Truemors, Guy Kawasaki's latest project, is exactly based on the idea that people like the internet only for the entertainment factor of information, especially if the rumors are true (get it?).

Rumors may be sometimes fun but most of the time, and especially in politics, it is used as a weapon. In the blogosphere it is the strategy du-jour by many screaming mimis. It's incredible then that people like Michael Arrington and, ~~of all people, Cory Doctorow~~ have taken the pill and joined The Rumor machine.
[UPDATE : Cory Doctorow updated the post with Mary Hodder's corrective post.]

[ OMFG! I just caught Jason Calacanis passing on the fucking smear through Twitter. I just chewed him out and told him Mary Hodder and Jay Rosen and I have been all over this one. OMFG! He just took it back, I love him!

Do you understand now why The Rumor can be The Smear? It only takes a few influencers to move the The Rumor and you indeed end up smeared with all the lies people want to attribute to you (or you candidate or his wife). ]

I can't believe all these guys would want to jump in the smear bandwagon hitched by the likes of Markos Moulitsas Zuniga, Teresa Nielsen Hayden. A rumor started, by the way, by a pro-AP journalist who seems to have a penchant for bashing bloggers.

Is it a coincidence that the one who reported this "guidelines meeting" works for one of the members of the Associated Press, the New York Times? Is it any coincidence that then the rumor is corroborated by an AP article?

Here's more from Mary Hodder :

AP: AP to meet with blogging group to form guidelines
NYT: The Associated Press to Set Guidelines for Using Its Articles in Blogs

Note that the NYTimes article says this which is the misleading paragraph:

Mr. Kennedy said the company was going to meet with representatives of the Media Bloggers Association, a trade group, and others. He said he hopes that these discussions can all occur this week so that guidelines can be released soon.

Media Bloggers Association, per the reporting by Culture Kitchen, did not say they were "representing all bloggers" to get some sort of policy worked out with AP, but rather, at Rogers' request, are representing *his case only,* in order to deal with the 7 C&D notices AP sent him.

The NYT (in implying) and AP in it's headline and throughout the article outright, completely misunderstand this, and lead readers to misunderstand that there is even an institution that can "negotiate for the blogosphere."

When you get the mediation that the MBA offers, that mediation is for you and your blog and/or bloggers alone. It's not for all other bloggers. It's not for "The Blogosphere", whatever it means. It is for only you, yourself and your blog. That's it. Period.

The Associated Press and The New York Times need to post corrections or retractions ASAP. It's dishonest to have implied that what ever is negotiated for Rogers is in any way applicable to all bloggers.

More about the AP copyright takedowns against Rogers Cadenhead

Netroots' bloggers boycott of Associated Press is working

Fighting for our right to inquiry, creativity and dissent

EXCLUSIVE : Robert Cox answers some questions about his coming meeting with AP

We need to keep the focus on Rogers Cadenhead and Fair Use

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