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Bleg

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I need the original reference for ‘blogger ethics panel’. As I remember it involved a discussion group convened by the Washington Post to fret about bloggers with undisclosed ties to political campaigns. It focused, ironically, on Markos Moulitsas, who had in fact disclosed his work for the Dean campaign on his site. However, I could be wrong on any or all of these points. Muchas gracias to whoever can link me with a contemporary press report.

***Update***

Thanks, Armando.

Reader Interactions

51Comments

  1. 1.

    ed_finnerty

    i remember it comling from duncan black

    as him – it it wasn’t him he probably knows who it was

  4. 4.

    neill

    Atrios (and others) responded to a (of course!) Journalism professor’s instigation of a Bloggers’ ethics issues conference or workshop or one day panel discussion or sumptin’… circa 2003 I’d say…

  8. 8.

    linda

    ooohhh, speaking of ethics … via politico:

    Mel Martinez accepted a lobbying gig less than two weeks after resigning from the Senate. (AP Photo)

  9. 9.

    Warren Terra

    I’m pretty sure it was Atrios, in the manner described in this recent paragraph I just Googled from there:

    For those coming in late, the “blogger ethics panel” joke is about how for years concern troll journalists tried to applied ethical norms and disclosure standards which didn’t exist anywhere in the universe to bloggers. It was a neat trick replacing what was once called “establishment journalism” with the “liberal journalism” as those who catered to the existing power structure could pretend that they were fighting for the little guy.

    But I’ll see if I can find an actual old use at Eschaton.

  11. 11.

    chris

    It started in 2003 when Markos was working for the Dean campaign while fundraising for him. Somebody at the WaPo tut tutted about the wearing of two hats, even though Kos maintained a disclaimer near the top of his home page.

    I can’t find the actual origin yet, but I do remember that much.

  13. 13.

    Armando

    Sorry to intrude, but it reference a Harvard Berkman Center ACTUAL Blogger Ethics Panel in January 2005.

    It was magnified by a Zephyr Teachout accusation that Markos and Jerome Armstrong of unethical behavior – when, she claimed, she and Joe Trippi bought them off for the Dean campaign.

  18. 18.

    Warren Terra

    The earliest I can find Atrios making sarcastic demands for the convening of a blogger ethics panel is three times in April 2005.

    Atrios definitely was fuming about the conference Armando references in January, though. More here, but without the panel. I haven’t found any earlier mentions of ethics panels, at least not with my search methods – though if you look earlier (in the second week of December 2004, for example) you will find Atrios fuming about bad-faith accusations of unethical behavior, just no panels.

  21. 21.

    Aunt Moe

    Don’t know if he coined the expression, but Duncan Black turned it into the classic joke it remains today.

  22. 22.

    Warren Terra

    @ kommrade reproductive vigor, #16

    the late lamented Carpetbagger Report

    Um, the Carpetbagger Report was Steve Benen blogging, and he’s doing basically the same blog, but presumably with better pay, at the Washington Monthly, as it says right on top of the Carpetbagger Report’s website. So did you really not know that, or do you just think he sold his soul to the man and should have kept it real?

  25. 25.

    Derz

    @SpotWeld

    I’m pretty certain both terms refer to Free Republic and it’s denizens. Which if added to the dictionary, I don’t think “Freeperville” would require an actual definition. Simply post a link to Wikipedia’s article on the Star Trek Mirror Universe. All the same characters from our universe exist in theirs, but everything is twisted, violent and evil. And I’m guessing Obama has a goatee.

  29. 29.

    pharniel

    unrelated, the dictionary needs to include ‘maybary machaivellians’. It just seemed like a good turn of phrase.

  31. 31.

    lloyd

    Whenever I hear the term I always think of Zephyr Teachout. She threw Markos and Jerome under the bus to promote her fancy “blogger ethics panel” and Atrios’s response to Zephyr’s accusation is almost certainly the genesis of the term.

    The closest thing to a first usage is probably this from Atrios on 4/8/05:

    Sounds like it’s time to convene another panel on “who is a journalist” or “blogger ethics,”

  32. 32.

    drag0n

    Wow. The more I read the lexicon the more I realise just how confusing this place must have been for new readers. Keep up the good work guys :-)

    IANAL– Acronym for I Am Not A Lawyer

  33. 33.

    racrecir

    Great work on the lexicon everyone. It went up faster than I could gather my thoughts. Hopefully, I can make some supplementary contributions. I’ll start with…

    Known Unknowns

    Rumsfeld’s style inspired a critical examination of the poetry of his press briefings, including a definitive volume on the poems and the poet.

  34. 34.

    jl

    @Walker:

    I second ‘hoocoodanode’

    I also disagree with Walker, hoocoodanode needs to be in the lexiblogitron. It started in Calculated Risk, adopted by Krugman, but I have seen it here and elsewhere.

  36. 36.

    random asshole

    @Robert Waldmann:

    To take some credit, I wrote the original definition in the first dictionary thread and, while the general theme of that submission has been maintained, it now looks like it was written by someone who wasn’t +n (where n is some large number) at the time.

    Though I wish he left in the links to the hilarious photoshop work mocking that comment, as that is what turns a typically stupid comment into an internet meme.

  37. 37.

    random asshole

    @drag0n:

    There’s probably a Larry Craig reference in that acronym as well, but someone already wrote an entry for “wide stance.”

  38. 38.

    Little Macayla's Friend

    @jl:
    Lexiblogitron . . . .
    Sounds unassailable (defn.: not subject to being set upon vigorously with arguments, entreaties, abuse, etc.).

  39. 39.

    Thers

    Sorry to intrude, but it reference a Harvard Berkman Center ACTUAL Blogger Ethics Panel in January 2005.

    It was magnified by a Zephyr Teachout accusation that Markos and Jerome Armstrong of unethical behavior – when, she claimed, she and Joe Trippi bought them off for the Dean campaign.

    Good times, good times. To the conference organizers’ credit, they took the satirical pushback (which involved allegations of kitten-devouring cyborgs) with fairly good humor.

    In the end the widespread mockery of the “blogger ethics” idea has had a more lasting effect than any attempt to impose “blogger ethics.” Which is a good thing. But man the cyborg-kitten stuff was fun…

  40. 40.

    wrb

    One I haven’t seen:

    HannityLand:

    From the game CandyLand, the alternate reality inhabited by those who get their information exclusively from Fox News and the like.

    Syn: The bubble

    Usage:

    Wingnut: “2.2 million of We the People marched on congress on 9/12 and protested stuff like the the 8.5 trillion dollars of stimulus money ACORN was slated to receive.”

    Reply: “In HannityLand, maybe.”

  41. 41.

    Cat Lady

    A “Q” entry:

    Quitta from Wasilla: another nickname for Sarah Palin, who quit as governor of Alaska in a rambling incoherent resignation speech which led to much conjecture that a scandal was imminent. Subsequent scripted appearances by Palin in settings closed to the press for large sums of money indicate that she quit because (1) governing was too hard and (2) she’s an unethical attention whore with expensive taste in clothes.

    An “X” entry: Xena of the War Party. Another nickname for Sarah Palin given to her after her fiery convention speech in which she approvingly quoted known anti-semite Westbrook Spegler.

    Actually, I think nicknames for Sarah Palin probably could fill an entire dictionary A-Z.

  45. 45.

    margarita

    101st Chairborne- Hawkish bloggers who call for belligerent military solutions to nearly every foreign policy question without taking any personal risk. 21st century synonym for ‘chickenhawk.’ Also known as the Keyboard Kommandos, the Basement Brigades, or the Fighting Hellmice.

    I always thought ‘101st Chairborne’ was a step beyond ‘chickenhawk.’ A chickenhawk loves war but won’t fight. The Keyboard Kommando-type, though, are chickenhawks who fancy themselves as actually striking blows on “the front line in the War on Terror,” a la Hugh Hewitt broadcasting from his bunker in the Empire State Building.

  47. 47.

    Skepticat

    Please consider adding:
    NSFW (No safe for work) Warning to prevent opening a video or audio file in circumstances where one would not want the content overheard, especially as it might draw attention to one’s dereliction of duty.

    Tenther
    Those under the delusion that the tenth amendment to the Constitution, which concerns states’ rights, makes almost everything done by the federal government unconstitutional. May also be considered to reflect the fact that many of them are using less than a tenth of their supposed intelligence to deal with these issues.

    Astroturf
    Activities called grass roots that actually have been ginned up and promoted by corporate/media organizations

    Do blue dogs and yellow dogs need explanation, or are they considered political rather than internet phrases?

    Re: Terry Schiavo. It was not the DNR order that her parents fought, it was her husband’s attempt to have her feeding tube removed.

  48. 48.

    margarita

    Bobo- Derogatory nickname for David Brooks of the NY Times, who coined the portmaneau Bourgeois Bohemian when he decided “yuppie” was offensive to its target. For more details on Bobo, see this definitive piece.

    Typo in ‘portmanteau.’ And technically, ‘Bobo’ is probably the portmanteau, not ‘Bourgeois Bohemian.’

  49. 49.

    margarita

    “Did you know that John McCain was a POW?”- Post tag used throughout the 2008 Presidential campaign to reflect the remarkable frequency with which the McCain campaign or a surrogate pointed this fact out, seemingly regardless of context.

    This is missing some critical context. The reason it was remarkable was the media cliche that McCain would never ever ever bring up his POW status, even though he and his campaign brought it up all the time.

  50. 50.

    very serious

    The ironic thing is that we *do* desperately need a blogger ethics panel. Jane Hamsher basically bought two spots on the recommended list at DailyKos, Trippi routinely shills for clients without saying he was working for them, etc.

    The big bloggers make huge factual errors or outright make shit up and then claim they’re not real journalists and shouldn’t be held to the same standards.

    And of course, in the next breath, they complain that they’re not taken seriously enough by politicians and that they represent the next wave of journalism and media.

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