I have to say that the treatment given by Editor and Publisher to the contretemps over Ted Rall is really instructive. I’ve found the publication to be excellent at times – innovative and thorough and often news-breaking. And then you read their stories about Rall. Take the latest. It is, in essence, an attack on Bill O’Reilly. Or the original one, where, again, Rall is regarded as the victim of a smear, rather than the perpetrator of an obscenity. Money quote:
When E&P called Rall, he had only received one message about the cartoon. But, as the interview went on, the messages started pouring in. A few were positive, but most were vicious. As Rall opened each e-mail for the first time, he quoted briefly from each one. “You make me sick”; “lies and distortions”; “move to France”; “I pity you”; “disgusting”; “sad and pathetic”; “f— you, you coward bastard”; “I will s–t on your grave”; “horrendous”; “rot in hell”; “freak”; “I hope you’re killed by an Arab terrorist attack”; “people died to publish the b.s. you do.”
E&P also implies that the only reason for the outpouring of outrage was that Drudge had whipped up conservative ire – as if only conservatives would be appalled by Rall’s bile against a fallen soldier on the day of his memorial service. Dave Astor, who wrote the pieces, is doing his job, of course. His readership – because it is primarily media establishment types – skews left. Same with leftist, Jim Romenesko, whose media site is highly successful because it reflects and caters to the left-liberalism of its readers. But these people would still insist they’re not biased! They are about as credible in that respect as Fox News.
The Dish 