Every Idiot Has His Day

More interesting analysis of the Eason Jordan story (had enough yet?) over at Mediabistro. But woven into this article by Mediabistro editor-in-chief Elizabeth Spiers is an enlightening interview with the editor of Popular Mechanics magazine Jim Meigs.

Apparently Meigs took it upon himself to investigate some of the 9/11 conspiracy stories “that hinged on the structure of the building or the planes that hit the towers” — i.e. his area of expertise. Unsurprisingly, his team of reporters and researchers concluded that such theories were 100% incorrect. But what was interesting was the conspiracy bloggers’ reaction:

“It’s been interesting to see the way the conspiracy theory corner of the blogosphere has responded. There was a long detailed piece saying we’d commissioned a hit job on the 9/11 Truth Movement. There wasn’t even two seconds of thought given to possibility that well, maybe we were right. Immediately the conclusion was that we’re a CIA front! And that the entire program was to support the Bush administration or the Mossad or the Zionist movement and that our motives were to suppress the truth.”

Such a response illustrates the worst of what the blogosphere has to offer. But in a medium where anyone can set themselves up as a publisher, it’s an inescapable fact of life. I still hold to the idea that the blogosphere is primarily a forum for dialogue. It’s just that every so often, every idiot has their day.