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Tuesday, July 31, 2007

Looks Like MSM Rips Off Ohio Blog's Title: Did Sticky Fingers Appear In Akron?

AKRON (TDB) -- Perhaps the Beacon Journal is controlled by thieves in the Knight these days. And all the good citizens of Akron should watch out. They could be getting news, information and opinion online from brain dead, corrupt, dishonest and vile people who think nothing of filching the ideas of others.

Once upon a time, wasn't even a whiff of plagiarism unacceptable? Now it looks like copying or imitating the language, ideas, and thoughts of another, and passing off the same as one's original work, is just fine and dandy. At least, in Akron.

What has happened is that Ohio.com (Ohionotcom) has started a new political blog, the Blog of Mass Destruction. It leans left. Of course, Ohio already has a blog called Weapons of Mass Discussion by Matt Hurley, who is from Southwest Ohio and happens to lean right. The mirror-effect is absolutely amazing -- so amazing that it looks like the MSM has created a counterfeit blog.

News of this possible scam came from Pho's Norka Pages, who first noticed that the formerly respectable MSM outlet in Akron had tiptoed uncomfortably close to Hurley's blog title. Pho had this to say about the apparent crime in the Ohiosphere:

"As of now each blog reads like a caricature of a blog. The lefty is all anger and out there: the righty brims with smug condescension. On the left we have blog of Mass Destruction (If I were Matt Hurley I'd sue the bastard) written by The Reverend. On the Right is the Political Guru by a blogger going by the same nom de blog."

My plan: I won't read, mention again, or support in any way what looks like a blog-o-crime -- the MSM's mass desmucktion. I am going to click Matt's site at least 10 times a day. I would hope every blogger in Ohio rallies to Matt's side, whether right, left or down the middle. I would hope every blogger in the world rallies to Matt's side. As for The Reverend -- he's a . . . Well, there's an epithet that can be prefixed, and it is not characterized by deep respect or reverence.

Again, here is the link to Matt's site and please visit it often. Another point: If the MSM is resorting to filching blog titles to stay alive, then it is indeed a dying and hopeless industry without a smidgen of creativity or talent, and utterly not deserving of further respect. Outside critics have suspected this for years.

5 comments:

  1. Bill - what do you think about the PD's possibly regular feature on their online presence, Blog 5? Have you seen it? It was up on Monday I believe.

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  2. Thanks for writing about this, Bill. It almost makes me wonder if the ABJ is doing it specifically to skewer blogs in some attempt which of course will fail to make them go away. That's so 2005.

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  3. Hi Jill --

    Never saw the PD thing. The ABJ coincidence smells awful, in my opinion, and I would hope others (like yourself) besides Pho and I raise cane. Pho was absolutely right to use strong language about suing the bastard.

    Also, there is a piece in Cincy Enquirer today about the best blogs down here, as picked by the Chamber of Commerce. The Chamber of Commerce? CincinnatiNation has a good link to it, and a comment that the Chamber tended to pick bland blogs . . .The Cincinnati Beacon and Porkopolis are pretty good, yet they were ignored. As was Weapons of Mass Discussion, which is a very active right angle blog.

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  4. The Chamber list appears (not certain without more digging I don't have time for) to have a predominantly Cincy-only focus, when it's trying (supposedly) to be a regional chamber. Ironic.

    If I'm right, people like WMD and BizzyBlog won't ever be considered, because we seldom delve into Cincy but do more than a little bit with the 'burbs and ex-urbs.

    And of course the Chamber will tend to pick non-controversial blogs (I don't necessarily agree with "bland," as that may be an unfair knock at the nominees).

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  5. Hi Bizzyblog --

    Apologize to all for saying bland. You were right to point out my excess. Some of those blogs are very interesting .... and worthwhile ... and well-written. Again, regret the word bland and I apologize to all.

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