Whether in real life, in real time where real fights lead to mostly unfortunate consequences, or in the ether that is the electronic Internet, I don’t take too kindly to people systematically hacking away at my credibility.
Enter WILK, the local purveyors of news, talk, radio and enough Facebook to make even the technologically-savvy fight off a robust puking event.
Don’t get me wrong, there are folks who toil away at WILK who I could excitedly hang out with. And there are those who, ideologically speaking, make me yearn for the mindless days of my longtime haunt--Rock 107.
More to the point, there are a few on-air hosts at WILK who constantly and relentlessly tell their listeners that the Internet is not where a learned, thoughtful, thinking person would turn to acquire accurate information.
More specifically, they tell those who would have them over the free airwaves that blogs and bloggers should be avoided at almost all costs while in pursuit of reliable, certifiable information. Rather, they point to the American version of Russia’s Pravda--The New York Times--as the word of God as it was once told to Moses.
I’m not stupid, nor am I nearly as crazy as I make myself out to be on the now suspect (?) Internet. I realize that newspapers vet their sources, and still search for more sources to confirm what the initial sources might be telling them. And I will not deny that what the blogosphere offers on most days is opinion based on and culled from what the newspapers have to report.
But, with that said, the opinion of a local radio talk show host is no more valid or accurate or bankable than is my opinion, the opinion of someone who is not bereft of any source of news or information or video clips that are available to the big, bad talkers.
Bloggers in this area, since the inception of blogs, have produced untold numbers of scoops, eye-popping pictures, thought-provoking posts, first-hand testimonials and fill-in-the-blank type supplements to many breaking news stories in Luzerne County.
Some of us--bloggers--have been doing it for years on end. Some of us have been doing it longer than most of the self-impressed, self-absorbed and easily dismissive talk jocks on WILK have been employed at WILK. We’ve been plugging away for years, as have some of the folks at WILK.
But what’s up with the steady stream of disrespect coming our way?
Being that the ratings for WILK during the latest rating period were so shockingly low, I’m wondering if the self-annointed know-it-alls are simply wildly flailing out at anything and everything they might deem to be the competition.
They won’t make mention of “The Talker,” as if it doesn’t exist with it’s recently enhanced AM ratings. But they will tell you not to trust any aspect of the Internet. No peaceful coexistence, just the inane and vapid rapid-fire insults directed at those who would happily admit to playing second fiddle to any and all local news sources.
Of course, this comes from a guy who once tricked a WILK talk show host into ranting and raving about an online April Fool’s Day joke of a post titled “Wilkes-Barre Air Rescue.”
And who, pray tell, was the station manager who forced that aged talk show host kicking and screaming onto the then-fledgling Internet? That would be the very same one-sided woman who once wrote “Blog this!”
Sorry, but WILK isn’t the only informational game in town.
Despite what they may say to the contrary, it never was, nor will it ever be.
Warts and all, the Internet is here and here to stay.
Now learn to deal with it.
Buh-bye
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