* As always, any “mainstream” media article about the Internet is filled with misinformation, and this one is no exception. Here’s a sample…
The state [Republican] party’s Web site is getting 100,000 hits per month, and the state is working with local county parties to develop their sites, Trover said.
A “hit” means that viewers have accessed a single file. I get more hits than that in a single day. Lots more. Like six or even seven times more. If the IL GOP’s website was really getting 100,000 hits a month, that would be pathetic.
* And how many times does this canard have to be beaten back?
“Even though there’s a lot of good information on the Internet, there’s also a lot of inaccurate information on the internet. Blogs and mass e-mails, especially, are dangerous if they contain bad information because it’s very easy to spread the misinformation, and it’s very difficult to respond it,” said Mike Lawrence, director of the Paul Simon Public Policy Institute at Southern Illinois University.
Lawrence, who also is the former press secretary to Jim Edgar in the offices of secretary of state and governor, said journalists properly question candidates and “present a more balance presentation of issues” and “hold candidates accountable.”
The Chicago Tribune’s website is viewed by more people in Illinois than any political blog, yet it routinely has errors, like the egregrious one in its lead editorial last Friday that I debunked later that morning.
Also, national political reporters, as a class, are just downright awful. Blogs have often done a lot more to hold candidates accountable than beat reporters. Several reporters were present during George Allen’s “Macaca Moment” and never bothered to report it, for example. Also, ask the governor’s office and the other four leaders whether they’re monitoring this blog to see what we’re doing to them on a daily basis. That would be holding them “accountable.”
One thing my blog does is provide visibility to several Statehouse reporters who might never get read by the majority of legislators and administration tpes. I also try to put things in perspective to give you some of the “real” story that is so often missing from more “mainstream” sources.
* And, as is way too often the case in stories like this, no bloggers were interviewed to counter the attacks from the old guard. How’s that for a more balanced presentation of issues?
* One last item of note. Steve Brown of the House Democrats and the Democratic Party of Illinois, tries to explain why the state party’s website is so awful…
“Democrats do more face to face interaction and real people meeting with real people. That’s what provides energy to efforts like campaigns,” Brown said.
* I’m sure Billy Dennis and others will have more to say about this Peoria Journal Star piece later today. Come back and I’ll update you.
Discuss.
*** UPDATE 1 *** An official at the IL GOP says the “hits” number referenced in the PJ-Star story above was, of course, incorrect. The state party gets 100,000 “page views” a month and about a million “hits” per month. Makes more sense.
*** UPDATE 2 *** Just for snicks, I checked to see if the Tribune had corrected its horrific error from Friday’s editorial. It hadn’t. So much for the accuracy of print.
*** UPDATE 3 *** Billy Dennis’ response piece is now online.