According to Forbes’ cover story – Attack of the Blogs (signin required, or use bugmenot login/password ‘forbesdontbug’) I’m an “ultimate vehicle for brand-bashing, personal attacks, political extremism and smear campaigns”, or at least my blog is. For a repected publication, I find this story particularly one sided. There’s no balance in the writing and the advice to ‘get your own back’ is encouraging the same type of behaviour the article disparages:

BASH BACK. If you get attacked, dig up dirt on your assailant and feed it to sympathetic bloggers. Discredit him.

Whilst there are some elements of truth in that the lynch mob attitude has and does happen, there’s a lot more than the world painted in this article, which comes across as one man’s crusade against a single issue, without considering other sides. So far better off in a blog than a respected jounalistic article then.

Shel Israel’s open letter to Forbes today, challenges the journalism of the article, in stereotyping such a group though the activities of a minority.