Watchdogs? Not So Much

With Anthony Weiner's surprise announcement today confessing to his Twitter transgressions, there is bound to be some fallout. However, there is one group of people who deserve special scorn in all of this.

The so-called mainstream media.

Looking back and watching what newspapers, magazines, websites, and cable news did to cover Weinergate, I can only feel embarrassed for them because they clearly took the lazy way out. Seriously, CNN's in-depth coverage consisted of...talking to Weiner's office and accepting their word as the end of the story. CNN, let me give you some advice. When Jon Stewart mocks your coverage and essentially scoops you, you're doing something wrong.

This is a time when real reporters would have been digging more deeply than talking to a press secretary or repeating a press release. The real reporting on both sides was done by the blogosphere. You hear that, New York Times? Bloggers did your job for you. You may not have cared to spend time researching the story, but DailyKos sure did! And say what you will about Andrew Breitbart, the fact is he got the story right from the start and the rest of the world had to catch up. If you Leftists in the media want to eliminate Breitbart's effectiveness, do a better job than he's doing at uncovering the truth. Weinergate doesn't exonerate Breitbart, but it sure as hell damns the media.

At some point, the media are going to have to adjust their approach to news events. Instead of being PR puppets for whatever side they support, they need to be skeptics, verifying everything. That's not happening today, and I don't see it happening any time soon. Until then, I guess we'll have to get used to the media watchdogs lying on the porch while the blogosphere does the heavy lifting.