January 29, 2002
Dewey Plagiarizes Truman! InstaPundit today publishes, without comment, an odd letter from reader Richard Riley "about the Noah non-plagiarism flap and the nature of weblogging:"
I’ve written my share of gushing posts about this exciting new medium, but somehow I don’t think I’d want to use this particular example to show why blogging is such a "remarkable phenomenon." Sure, from where Riley’s sitting the system works, since his quick response and the directness of the medium were essential in clearing up the incident, but it’s a bit disingenuous not to notice that it was those characteristics that created the incident to begin with; at best, it’s zero-sum, and almost certainly quite a bit less. The instantaneous call-and-response nature of blogging is the source for much of its success and appeal, but also has an obvious downside, evidenced in this incident.
Look, this Noah story isn’t a huge deal, and I’ll admit that had I been in that position I probably would have jumped on it, too. The blogger who first "broke the story" generally does excellent work and has owned up to this error with requisite and expert crow-eating (the phrase "I’m an IDIOT" was used, in fact). But if I cause an accident with my reckless driving, after which I’m able to rush my victims to the hospital in record time, I’m not going to stay up nights wondering why I haven’t been proclaimed a hero.
Yesterday's business where a mis-formatted re-post of Tim Noah's Slate piece gave rise to plagiarism accusations, then my messages to the posters correcting them, and then retractions and the end of the matter, is a good instance (since I was involved!) of what you often observe — what a remarkable phenomenon is weblogging. A combination of publishing (since it's out there for public consumption, and thousands of people do read them) and intimate personal conversation (since my own quick research and email messages resulted in the retractions). Leaving aside all the hype over the last 5 years, I think it is really a new medium. I can't think of anything comparable. And it's weblogging that really seems to bring out these characteristics.
I’ve written my share of gushing posts about this exciting new medium, but somehow I don’t think I’d want to use this particular example to show why blogging is such a "remarkable phenomenon." Sure, from where Riley’s sitting the system works, since his quick response and the directness of the medium were essential in clearing up the incident, but it’s a bit disingenuous not to notice that it was those characteristics that created the incident to begin with; at best, it’s zero-sum, and almost certainly quite a bit less. The instantaneous call-and-response nature of blogging is the source for much of its success and appeal, but also has an obvious downside, evidenced in this incident.
Look, this Noah story isn’t a huge deal, and I’ll admit that had I been in that position I probably would have jumped on it, too. The blogger who first "broke the story" generally does excellent work and has owned up to this error with requisite and expert crow-eating (the phrase "I’m an IDIOT" was used, in fact). But if I cause an accident with my reckless driving, after which I’m able to rush my victims to the hospital in record time, I’m not going to stay up nights wondering why I haven’t been proclaimed a hero.
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