Bloggers get the blame
No gun bloggers that I know were spreading rumors about Daniel Defense, and I read a lot of gun blogs, so I am annoyed that we get the blame.
UPDATE: Soon after posting this I received Jim Shepard’s newsletter with an apology for his misuse of words.
Having heard from a couple of bloggers yesterday, I am going to plead guilty to an inexact application of the word “blogosphere”. Some of the very people I’ve characterized as the future of communications feel – justifiably – that I’ve tossed them under the proverbial bus recently.
That’s not the case. What I have done is use a term of art (blogosphere) as shorthand for all the myriad of internet communications. When I received nearly 100 emails and forwards of excerpts of a single report – and dozens of associated rumors- regarding Daniel Defense, I wrote that the “blogosphere was roiling”. A more accurate depiction would have been “rumors have been flying regarding Daniel Defense across the internet”. It was an unintentional shot at a group of individuals who I really do regard as integral parts of information distribution.
Several of the bloggers have called me to account on this one – and I have to plead guilty with a stipulation. It was inexact word usage, not intentional criticism. Calling me out on this one actually makes me feel better about accuracy in new media. Now, if I could only get someone in “old media” to take offense when I accuse them of unbridled bias….
Thanks Jim! I appreciate the apology and I am sure all the other gun bloggers do as well. It takes a real man to admit to a mistake.
I founded TFB in 2007 and over 10 years worked tirelessly, with the help of my team, to build it up into the largest gun blog online. I retired as Editor in Chief in 2017. During my decade at TFB I was fortunate to work with the most amazing talented writers and genuinely good people!
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