Nancy Clark's Blogger-Bashing Column Has Been Deleted

It seems that the Des Moines Register has removed Nancy Clark's infamous blogger-bashing column. See for yourself.

We noticed this today when perusing Clark's section on the DMR web site.

Click on the link from this cache. It's gone. Same with this Google cache from August 14th.

Try from our original link. Nothing. Try from the followup. Zilch!

Er, what's with that?

Orson Swindle from the EDSBS web site conducted an interview with Nancy Clark that was published on August 11th. Fanblogs.com's analysis of the interview cuts to the chase with regard to Clark's aversion to bloggers. It turns out that the old "Steve Alford hot tub" rumor (Oh great, now everybody will be coming here after searching for that topic - Ed.) was the reason. Naturally, Fanblogs.com consults all the usual outlets for determining which "blogs" printed the rumor and couldn't come up with anything. Obviously, Ms Clark's attempts to smear bloggers wasn't verified, wasn't scrutinized by editors, wasn't fact-checked and proofed. Perhaps Ms Clark was thinking of message boards, a product of the internet which has been around in one form or another since 1978.

Here's more from the interview:

OS: Do you differentiate between bloggers and message boards?

NC: I differentiate between good, responsible bloggers and those who spew junk. Some of my friends are bloggers.

OS: You care to name them?

NC: No, I’d rather not.

OS: You stated that some bloggers are “losers”. Do you think most bloggers are “losers?”

NC: I couldn’t give you a percentage. I certainly think some of them are.

OS: Any in particular?

NC: No.

OS: How about us?

NC: Well I told you, you were the only one who bothered to call me. I think you must have a responsible bone in your body.

Nevermind that Captain Ed emailed Nancy Clark, only to have it deleted without being read.

But if you're looking around for Nancy Clark's original column, have no fear. The ever-trusty NewsBank has a copy:

Read the blogs and message boards if you want. But do it for entertainment, n ot information.
NANCY CLARK

***CLARIFICATION*** A column by Nancy Clark published in Thursday's newspaper included the incorrect use of the word "voracity", instead of the word "veracity". Clark submitted the column without the error. The mistake was generated by an editor after she filed the column. Ran 06.08.2005 Sports page 1.

Today I'll be talking with Dan McCarney.

The bloggers won't.

I'll also be posing questions during Iowa State's media day to Bret Meyer, Todd Blythe and Jason Scales.

The bloggers won't.

Monday, I'll be chatting with Kirk Ferentz.

The bloggers won't.

I'll also get in a word at Iowa's media day with Drew Tate.

The bloggers won't.

Tuesday, I'll interview Mark Farley at Northern Iowa's media day.

The bloggers won't.

Wait! Come back! This isn't an exercise in name-dropping.

It's about you, and what you should pay attention to as we enter the thick of the college football media days season.

Of course you're going to hang on every word the stars say. But are you also going to take note of who's taking the notes?

You really should know who's asking the questions. It's important. It's the only way you can discern fact from fiction.

Too often you can't tell the two apart, according to some "light" reading I did over the summer.

The State of the News Media Report is an annual review by the Project for Excellence in Journalism, part of the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism in New York.

The conclusion of the 600-page report was that the traditional "journalism of verification," in which reporters check facts, is being infringed upon by a new model of journalism that is "faster, looser and cheaper."

In the new "journalism of assertion," as the report calls it, information is offered with little time and little attempt to independently verify its voracity.

In other words, bloggers and some radio and cable talk show hosts make up stories and spread rumors. Too often, consumers don't know the difference between these lies and mainstream news reports.

Because of this shift, there is no longer widespread agreement on basic facts. We don't all know the same thing.

Some Iowans "knew," for example, that Tate, the Iowa quarterback, had a broken leg before last season's Capital One bowl, while others knew he was healthy.

The report on the threat to traditional journalism focused on political reporting -remember the allegations by the "Swift Boat Veterans for Truth" that, after weeks of reporting, were found to be unsubstantiated?

But I think "journalism of assertion" is just as pervasive in sports. Lies and rumors about coaches and players in Iowa City -accepted as fact until proven otherwise by the mainstream media -have sadly become routine. Ask Steve Alford. Ask Jennie Lillis.

Read the blogs if you want. Read the message boards. But do it for entertainment, not information. Don't accept anything you read on them as truth unless it has been independently verified.

Usual scenario: A loser tries to make himself seem important by posting information that makes him appear to be an insider, "in the know."

Worse case scenario: Gambling interests, bookies, the mob pass off inaccurate information about a player or team as truth to try to influence wagering or the outcome of a contest. They're counting on readers and viewers to be gullible.

Don't be.

Know that if the information is coming from the mainstream media -the accredited reporters, broadcasters and photojournalists -they are following strict professional guidelines that the looser outlets don't require. The information has been verified, has been scrutinized by editors, has been fact-checked and proofed.

Know that my colleagues and I really will be talking to McCarney and the stars in the next few days, and that they said exactly what we report.

Columnist Nancy Clark can be reached at (515) 286-2517 or nclark@dmreg.com