A Missed Opportunity

The Washington Post just blew it. They had an opportunity to generate some more traffic to their site and receive the benefits of those increased ad revenues and they blew it.

At the end of 60 Minutes in the 1970s you didn’t see Andy Rooney, you saw Shana Alexander and James J. Kilpatrick in verbal combat in the Point-Counterpoint segment. That segment became such an icon that it was parodied on Saturday Night Live‘s fake news Weekend Update by Jane Curtin and Dan Aykroyd.

The Post could have provided the same dynamics with a red state versus blue state version. Two bloggers , one from each side, going after each other on one site. They could have staged occasional grudge matches featuring guest bloggers on a single topic with a on-line poll tied in to determine the winner, like Oxford debates. That would generate traffic. That would generate income.

There are real writers with genuine ability and strong political beliefs who would have willingly accepted the offer. People with authentic credentials and portfolios to prove they know how to write to deadline. A salary and passwords would be the expense, as blogging is an obvious telecommuting job.

What they did was hire a hapless kid who tried to bluster his way through a job he wasn’t qualified to do. The Post lost massive amounts of credibility for their attempt, which was already in short supply after the Howell incident.

If the Post thinks the Stalinist red state bloggers are going to appreciate the effort, they haven’t been reading the blogs. The red staters are already spreading the meme that the Post did this on purpose to damage their standing as part of a liberal plot.

Welcome to the grassy knoll, Mr. Brady.