Bloggers As Illegal Immigrants

It is not uncommon to see a Journalist (with a capital J) launch into a diatribe against bloggers and sometimes even call for regulations to stop "citizen journalists" from spreading the news. Although such calls are often couched in terms of noble-sounding goals like protecting the integrity of information in a free society, there's also an important self-serving economic motive at play.

It doesn't cost all that much to become a citizen journalist: a computer and your own time is about all it takes for you to start reporting your view of the world to whoever wants to read it.

The laws of supply and demand suggest that the rewards to being a Journalist would drop because anyone can now start reporting news and opinionating a la Paul Krugman or Maureen Dowd. It's as if the Journalistic profession has received its own influx of illegal immigrants--increasing competition, lowering rewards, and creating havoc along the way.

Maybe now the Journalists will learn how those workers affected by immigration have long felt.

Comments

[myles]

Journalists certainly deserve a taste of their own medicine!

In my experience, most journalists tend to socialize with people in the "helping" professions.

People in the "helping" professions are among the prime beneficiaries of the massive flood of unskilled workers in to the US. All the violence and pathology that results creates lots of jobs for social workers & etc.

Also - the teachers unions of course love the massive demand for teachers that result from immigration.

[Michael]

Maybe it will force Journalists (capitol) to preform better at their jobs? And make their news stories more relevant, hard-hitting, investigative, etc. which the home-journalist cannot offer?

I've long thought about how I get my news (which is mostly from blogs and online sites) and 90% of blog material comes from trades and newspapers, which I could get just as easily and more quickly if I woke up earlier and read the paper before them.

[Luke Lea]

Off topic slightly, but may I suggest we start to emphasize the positive side of immigration enforcement for Mexico and Mexicans, not just Americans.

On the one hand, massive immigration from poor countries to rich countries retards the economic development of poor countries, which hurts the majority of poor people who stay behind.

There are good reasons this is so -- emigration to greener pastures strips a country of its human capital -- and plenty of evidence: look at how Mexico's per capita GDP stalled around 1965, after growing just as fast as it did in the U.S. in the first three decades after WWII.

And then there is the impact on Mexican governance which the return of millions of Mexican natives from north of the border is likely to have: these people have assets, skills, and most important of all, experience of what it is like to live in a country of laws and markets, as opposed to the nest of corruption and privilege which Mexico remains. The demands for reform will build, especially if supported by the U.S. government. We can tie our trade agreements to real reform, and even make Mexico a more attractive place to invest than China if we want to. I wouldn't even be opposed to using our corn surpluses to feed the unemployed in Mexico while they get their house in order.

If we really want to win this immigration debate, we should appeal to the humanitarian instincts of our liberal elites, not just our own material and cultural interests. Not that the latter aren's important -- they are -- but because we need to use all the arrows in our quiver. Just a thought.

[LomaAlta]

Nice post. Short and hard hitting. Thanks.

[Peter Schaeffer]

Luke Lea,

Good ideas that I broadly support. However, "corn surpluses"? Not for quite some time.

[Peter Schaeffer]

I don't really believe that bloggers are material competitors to journalists, at least to date. So far bloggers do little original reporting. A few exceptions might include Michael Yon in Iraq and the folks at Calculated Risk.

However, the Internet, including bloggers certainly is a very real threat. For example, the wire services can now bypass print newspapers via Drudge and Breitbart. No one needs the WSJ for security prices anymore. Many other examples exist as well.

The heyday of conventional journalism is almost certainly in the past.

[Bert Rustle]

Peter Schaeffer wrote “... I don't really believe that bloggers are material competitors to journalists, at least to date. So far bloggers do little original reporting. A few exceptions ...” for example http://eureferendum.blogspot.com which documents with original analysis and research (and commentary on the Drive-By Media) the ongoing construction by deception of the EUSSR. They also did detailed research on http://eureferendum.blogspot.com/2006/08/corruption-of-media.html producing a definitive report on the media coverage of the "Qana" incident on 30 July 2006 amongst many others.

[Ed]

Wow,that was one arrogant article. Comparing journalists to surgeons? What planet does this guy live on?

Perhaps, journalism is another job American's won't do?

Apparently the MSM doesn't like competition.

[Dee]

I agree. “The heyday of conventional journalism is almost certainly in the past.”

Citizen Journalists are needed. Citizens can judge the Citizen Journalists articles for themselves. Let the viewer beware. We should have freedom of choice. Competition is good. One newspaper or media channel can drive us to war as in the past.

The internet and blogs have worked well for the conservatives, the RNC and the ANTIs in the past. Now that we are seeing more Liberal and PRO bloggers, certain conservatives are feeling threatened and feel a need for regulation.

I doubt this regulation will happen any time soon!

[skip]

There are some facts that the mainstream media suppresses. Bloggers are responsible for getting the facts out

Exit polls in Arizona showed that 47% of self-identified latino voters voted in favor of the recent law cracking down on illegal immigration to Arizona.

47%. The Mainstream media colludes with Dee to hide this.

MSM & Dee want to cast this as a racial ethnic issue. Polls of the voters show it is not.

[Dee]

Where do you get your news from Skip? World Net Daily? or some other extremist sites?

Good! Feel Free! Let the Reader Beware! You have freedom of choice in choosing which sites on the internet or in the media you choose to read and which you choose to believe. I am all for it.

Also know I don´t read or believe any of the nativist, extremist ANTI sites like WND that you are horn-swoggled by. Don´t believe nor would I touch WND with a 10 foot pole!

[jj]

http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2004//pages/results/states/AZ/I/01/epolls.0.html

The above link shows that proposition 200, which La Raza and the ACLU and the establishment opposed, actually passed with 47% of latino voters voting yes.

Also see wikipedia

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arizona_Proposition_200_(2004)

[Dee]

JJ,
Puh lease.
There is no "La Raza."
There is a group called NCLR. They are a Humanitarian Group which your ANTI side often demonizes.

The reality is, if you call NCLR "La Raza", it is the same thing as calling the NAACP "colored people."

Plain and Simple!

[Dee]

I analyzed the CNN exit poll results.

There were Participants: 1781
These results were extremely skewed and who knows what precinct they chose to survey.

There were only 12% Latino participants. The vast majority of the participants made over 30K a year. Only 15% of the participants were under 30.

So when you say 47% of the Latinos voted FOR prop 200, what you are really saying is, in the precincts in which the polls were taken, there were only 12% Latinos. Of these 12% Latinos, 89% earned over 30K a year and 85% were over 30 years old. These 100 Latinos (47%) who were primarily over 30, earning plus 30K a year said they were in favor of Prop 200.

This is what this poll says.

This is HARDLY REPRESENTATIVE of the LATINOs in Arizona!

race and gender
white men 37% 659
white women 42% 748
non white men 11% 196
non white women 11% 196

ra ce
white 79% 659
african american 2% 36
latino 12% 214
asian 1% 18
other 5% 89

age
18 - 29 15% 267
30 - 44 29% 499
45 - 59 32% 570
60+ 25% 445

[bdplaid]

Great article. I have 2 degrees in Mass Communication, and wholeheartedly agree.

I am reminded of my days teaching media at university where the students in this major were uber lazy and stupid.

Mostly, the article reminded me of the old question: What's the difference between a reporter and a Journalist? The reporter doesn't become the hero of the story.

thanks!

[Peter Schaeffer]

Dee,

The NCLR web site states that NCLR stands for "National Council of La Raza" or in English "National Council of The Race".

[Peter Schaeffer]

Dee,

You are misreading the CNN exit poll data. The only thing you can tell about the Prop 200 Latino voters is that they were 12% of the sample. It is impossible to know their ages, or incomes from the CNN data.

It is possible to determine the ages and incomes of the entire exit poll population, but not the Latino subest, at least based on the published data.

Not that the "Other" group voted 66% in favor of Prop 200. That would be Native Americans.

Also note that 72% of voters with incomes under $15,000 voted for Prop 200. Illegal immigration is devastating for the poor.

[scoop]

72% of the poor in this survey are against illegal immigration.

Wow - Dee i hope you are proud of yourself. You are siding with the elites against the poor

[Dee]

Peter, I did take the % by distribution group and overlapped them.

To be precise about the 72% you are referencing:
There were respondents 1,781.
In the precincts they polled, 142 people (8%)said they made less than 15K a year. Of these 142 people, 103 (72%) people said they approved of Prop 200.
Of the 8% earning less than 15K, they may not be Hispanic. They might be all white retirees. We don´t know.

So I stand by what I said. This poll is hardly representative of the Hispanic View. Since only 12% Hispanics participated in the poll. It is only providing the results of those sites questioned and it is unfair to say otherwise.

http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2004//pages/results/states/AZ/I/01/epolls.0.html

[Dee]

Scoop,
The 72% were probably all rich retirees. (Arizona poll, remember)

[William Soul]

Mayra Payes Carrillo
Aliases: Guera
DESCRIPTION
Date of Birth: Octuber 06, 1978
Height: 5’2”
Weight: 160 pounds
Eyes: Green
Hair: Brown
Sex: Female
Race: White/Hispanic
Nationality: Guatemala
NCIC Number: No have documentation,
Occupation: No
Scars and Marks: Mayra alias Guera has a tattoo of a roses in the arms right.
CAUTION
Is gang member
Does not carry document has problems with the law, is extremely violent, to be careful. “once or twice carries firearm or I puncture cutting”
Possible address where itself to seen
5214 S. San Pedro St. Los Angeles CA. 90011

[Richie Collins]

"Operation Wetback, No!Operation Go Back, Yes!"
I am a female who in 1973 joined the United States Army National Guards in my state of Louisiana. And I along with millions of Americans am appalled at what our elected-sell-out-officials are doing to this blessed nation. And as a citizen you wonder what can you do to help take our country back.

I've created "Operation Go Back" At, www.OperationGoBack.com, site. I got the idea from Pres. Eisenhower Operation Wetback program he carried out in 1954. And Go Back, is what Americans want all illegal aliens to do.

This website will give Americans ideas on what they can do in their areas, sorta like a how to site. T-Shirts expressing how we feel as Americans are at http://www.cafepress.com/OperationGoBack , click the link and to see them, and I would like to know what you think of them.

We'll be giving ideas on how to get ALL illegal aliens to Go Back to their own countries. Presently ICE is promoting a voluntary self repatriation program that has little success. Maybe they just need a little help. I think these shirts silently but, specifically say GO BACK, in a respectful way.

I would like to ask for your help in getting the word out about "Operation Go Back"? Two of our former presidents sent back millions of illegal aliens and so can we. Pres. Eisenhower took a page from Pres. Hoover playbook and did,
"Operation Wetback" and we can do "Operation Go Back"!

Telling all illegal aliens they must Go Back to their countries and do it right. Thank you for all you do for this country too!

http://www.operationgoback.com/