New Media

Some New York Times reporter named James Risen wrote an article claiming Afghanistan had $1 trillion worth of mineral deposits, which obviously would shift the balance of the world. But he was quickly bombarded with accusations of "bullshit" as it turns out, and I quote, "many of the story's purported revelations about Afghanistan's mineral reserves had been previously reported."

So how does young (cough) Mr. Rosen respond? Of course by the new trope (is that possible? is this the NEWEST trope?) that all bloggers are wiping Cheetos dust off their tighty-whities in their mom's basement:

Risen didn't take kindly to the blogospheric criticism. "Bloggers should do their own reporting instead of sitting around in their pajamas," Risen said.

I'm not a spokesman for bloggers; indeed, I'm at the forefront of the "We're Gay Unless the Name Changes" Movement. But the blogger/pajamas memé not only is getting tiring,  the fact is, what do people really think "New York Times reporters" do on a daily basis? I mean, this isn't Woodward and Bernstein; these guys aren't going in and sitting at a desk for 12 hours a day, with a typewriter and a water cooler. Someone like Risen is at his home office, or emailing his articles via his iPad wherever he may be. For all anybody knows or cares he is, theoretically, in his mother's basement jerking off into a bag of Cheetos while writing. And apparently he spent a lot of time on his "article" getting stories on his computer from other articles on the internet. Why would I assume Risen has gotten out of bed, showered, shaved, combed his hair, brushed his teeth, and gotten dressed more than anybody else?