Blog stormtroopers?

The US blogosphere has been exercised by the Jordan Eason story over the last couple of weeks. Eason, who has now resigned from CNN, reportedly said something he shouldn't have at a World Economic Forum meeting in Davos. Jay Rosen has the necessary background.

For Australian readers the details are probably of remote interest. But for media watchers, particularly online media watchers, the issues fit nicely on a continuum that includes all of the blogosphere "gotcha" stories of the last year or so such as Rathergate, and Blairgate to name just two.

So the Eason story got the juices flowing on more than a couple of blogs, Jeff Jarvis' BuzzMachine particularly. While Rosen sees it as a fairly minor story:

"I don't think he should have resigned. I don't know why he did. Neither the public overlooking this sad event, nor the participants in it know why Eason Jordan quit. No reasons have been given, beyond saving CNN the trouble of a controversy."

Jarvis, on the other hand, has responded to the New York Times' coverage which he sees as wrongheaded and petty towards blogs and citizen journalists. He's written an open letter to the Times' public editor.


Illustration: John Spooner / theage.com.au