The Forecast: Overheated, Gusty and Increasingly Bloggy

Charlie Madigan, who writes a blog for the Chicago Tribune, had this message for his Old Media colleagues: "Shut up with your whining and appreciate the fact that, after generations of stagnation, something new has arrived. . . . Conventional journalism seems aghast that a whole collection of independent voices from all sides of the political spectrum are popping up now to pick and smear and slander and point accusing fingers, wreck careers, cast aspersions and introduce something besides a century-old sense of entitled hierarchy to the formula for news presentation."

If there's one thing bloggers enjoy more than bashing the press, it's arguing with each other. Matt Dattilo at Opaque Lucidity says: "There's a saying in football: When you get to the end zone, act like you've been there before. The blogosphere threw a harsh light on a 'journalist' [Jordan] who needed a smackdown. Congratulations. . . . If the blogosphere is going to insist on doing a little celebratory jig every time some liberal [butthead] puts his foot in it, we will all soon look as if we ARE hunting for heads to put on the wall."

Those who dismiss the new cybercritics should remember that bloggers draw strength from their relationship with readers. It was typography experts sending e-mail that enabled conservative blogs to blow the whistle on Dan Rather's National Guard documents, while Web experts helped liberal bloggers reveal former White House reporter Jeff Gannon's real name and X-rated background. In reporting, it turns out, a little interactivity goes a long way.

Off the Payroll

Eric Wesson, a reporter for the Kansas City Call, will no longer be doing consulting work for Rep. Emanuel Cleaver (D-Mo.) while covering him, says the publisher of the African American newspaper.

Wesson defended his dual role in this space last week, but Publisher Donna Stewart says his moonlighting is over. Cleaver, whose spokeswoman defended Wesson's hiring, now says in a statement that "to avoid even the appearance of impropriety, our campaign will not enter into a consulting contract with a reporter who covers our campaign."

This, it turns out, isn't the first time Wesson's writing has stirred controversy. A spokesman for Jackson County prosecutor Michael Sanders complained to the Call last year about Wesson's reporting on his boss -- noting that the office had prosecuted Wesson for robbery in 1991, leading to a 10-year prison term.

Wesson declines to comment, but the complaint drew a sharp reaction from Stewart, who wrote Sanders that the objections were "stereotypical as well as racist. . . . If a small business like the Call does not give an opportunity for an ex-felon to redeem himself who is black, who will? Is redemption only for white ex-felons?"

John Liebnitz, the prosecutor's spokesman, says it's "unfortunate" that anyone would see his complaint as race-related and that he's glad Wesson is "turning his life around." Liebnitz says he questioned whether someone who had been prosecuted by the office he was writing about "might have a very difficult time separating those experiences from his daily work."