Having been in the Philly Amtrak 30th St Station just a few months ago, this article from Huffpost concerns me even more than it otherwise might. Apparently the power went out, and Amtrak fed a story about it to the press that does not match the reality of those who were there.
While I tend to give big media a lot more credit than many bloggers, I do think this incident is a good example of why a free press is so critical in this country. If mainstream media, consolidated in the hands of a few rich folks with personal agendas, continues to stupidly report the company line on public incidents without actual research & reporting, then it will not only become obsolete, but deservedly so.
The beauty of blogging is that it's cheap, and you build a reputation the same way as mainstream media - consumers like what they get, and come back for more. Huffpost has grown into a serious site, and I have no doubt that Rosenbaum's post is as accurate as anything I'd read in the Strib or Wash Post.
Not that there isn't a LOT of crap out in cyberspace, but these days, if you get your news from blogs instead of TV, that might be a good thing.
(I'll save the implications about readiness for a terrorist attack for another post, another time.)
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