cut people some slack (you'll need the favor returned at some point...)

re: "The economists didn’t figure on prices dropping as much, from what I can see. The point remains: supply and demand still works."

so then what is the "inanity" you talk about?

"Sales of new homes recorded an unexpected increase in September [as a direct result of the fact that, surprisingly,] median home prices dropped to the lowest level in four years" --> it was a surprise that the prices dropped as much as they did and this caused an unexpected increase of the sale of new homes [when compared with the economists' expectations].

As you say yourself:"The economists didn’t figure on prices dropping as much". The fact that this drop in prices resulted in an increase in sales (supply and demand) was not surprising at all...

Delia

P.S. The phrasing *is* a bit cumbersome -- I suppose you could read it the other way also, but why do that and insult the writer when there is a perfectly logical explanation to that statement? D.

connectU: is anybody paying attention to this?

doesn't look like it... there is very little info on the internet (it's just been mostly fodder for Valleywag) --> now, this usually makes me want to start a blog about it :) but it would be tough going and I don't know... if nobody's really interested in the topic, maybe I shouldn't be, either?

Delia

P.S. so what piqued my interest ...-- the possibility that connectU might not mind becoming a non-profit and taking on Facebook and ... winning! I do think a non-profit alternative would win in the long run (just like an honest-to-goodness non-profit alternative to craigslist would...)

P.P.S. if you think you are good with language, try to tell the two brothers apart by listening to their voices (they claim to have distinct personalities and you'd expect that to reflect in speech -- not the way they pronounce isolated words but the way they put things together and the emphasis. It's not easy at all,though... so I'm skeptical as to how different their personalities really are; interestingly, one of them is agnostic and the other Protestant (that's a pretty big difference, although it may not be a permanent choice); as far as being creative and artistic versus analytical this may have been just the chosen "differentiation" (each one may have done just as well as the other if the choices would have been reversed)

P.P.P.S. alright... moving on... unless someone is volunteering some decent sources of info on the topic D.

more on anonymity...

I agree with Nikos and strongly disagree with that statement on anonymity. Especially with the way it is constructed: it uses *an example* of a negative use of anonymity (personal attacks) to justify dismissing anonymous criticism without considering the quality of the criticism.

Delia

P.S. Valid criticism that spells out the logical steps does not need an identifiable “author” — it is just as true (and useful) if you don’t know the author as if you do. It is a mistake to ignore it just because it is anonymous.

D.

Seth & Jon: what would they want Dan to do?

EVEN MORE:

sorry I’m late…

re: Dan: “I still see nothing wrong with shifting **more** responsibility onto the consumer of media. In fact, that strikes me as a healthy shift.” … “consumers will have do a little more intellectual lifting, which they should have been doing all along.”

You can’t realistically expect average people to spend a lot of time gathering and analyzing information from a large number of sources that may or may not be reliable and do a good job at it (most people don’t have the time and/or the expertise) — it is the job of the media to provide the equivalent of executive summaries that people can use (journalism is failing when it does not fulfill this function)

MORE: Jon: hope you had a good day overall... (it's getting much colder now, even down South)

List the ponies, Seth! let's hear it:)... D

Seth & Jon:

so what would you want Dan to do? let's assume he'd listen:), specifically, how would you want him to change so you would be more approving and less critical of what he says and does ... ?

Delia

(Hurricaine Gustav) what is Craig Newmark "missing"?

MORE:

Sam,

Given their profits *and* lofty talk (craigslist is not just a run of the mill corporation, it is one that pretends to be something else), craigslist and Craig should be financially helping.

Delia

P.S. Do I think they would do it? not given their track record... (NEVER done it in the past as far as I'm aware, although they appear to have been racking in humongous profits... year after year after year...) D.

...
re: "Is something happening now I'm missing?" (comment-128475124)

yep! looks like you are "missing" the obvious, again; what were your profits this year? you should be able to help financially...

Delia

P.S. looks like this is going to be worse than Katrina so money is going to be one sure thing that will be needed D.

Craig's blog is "insightful"?

EVEN MORE:

courtesy link to related comments on my blog:

MORE:

Michael,

I see... (it was just not obvious)

re: "contact us" page:

http://www.informationweek.com/contactus.jhtml

Delia

P.S. I'm even more baffled by your reaction to Craig now that I know your background...

P.P.S. and he *has* been on Facebook for a good while.

re: "Should you be on Facebook? I'm surprised you're not already."

STILL MORE:

Michael, what is your relationship with the site your name links to (you don't appear to be listed there at all). D.

MORE:

Michael,

I'm just curious, do you think Craig's speech at the Berkeley commencement was appropriate?

Delia

P.S. I tend to agree with Dave -- this is not something you do at commencement (you do have a captive audience there -- people pretty much have to be there -- and not doing this sort of thing seems to be just basic respect).

P.P.S. I think places like Facebook and Twitter are the same (people trust you not to do this sort of thing). D.

STILL MORE: (comment-126231606)

didn't people already tell you that was a no-no (aka spamming)? or was that on Tweeter? or the Berkeley commencement? or all of those...

here is a reminder if you've forgotten:

Dave:"I stopped paying attention somewhere in the middle and then for some reason my ears perked up when his speech became a political rally cry, but it was boring nonetheless."

(http://blog.wired.com/business/2008/05/the-reviews-are.html)

Delia

P.S. this blog is a much more fair place for something like that (the vast majority of your readers would probably happily listen to whatever you'd like to say... political rally cry or not... and the few that *have* to read it for some reason or other don't have much choice in the matter...) D.

EVEN MORE:

Garrett:

*Issues* raised? Again, it's a cut-and-paste-operation -- nothing original that I can see...

Looks like propaganda to me (always one-sided; devoid of analysis) and I have no doubt that some of these people/organizations would be willing to pay for this sort of thing.

I don't know that he *does* get paid, of course -- it is just my suspicion.

Delia

MORE:

Jim,

I'm at a loss as to what could you possibly find insightful about this blog -- it's a copy-and-paste-job when it comes to any serious issues. No analysis to speak of -- I've often wondered if Craig gets paid by some of the people/organizations he promotes on his blog.

Delia

...
... looks like this guy is just buttering him up...

confidential sources

MORE:

re: “One nuance, remember, is that if a reporter changes his assessment from “mostly confident in X” to “less confident in X” or “no longer confident in X” does that mean that the first statement is wrong?”

That’s the risk they take when they choose to use confidential sources (they can’t break their promise, they would have never gotten that info if they would not have agreed to confidentiality). If you are talking about regular sources, there are such things as retractions (if they believe their prior report was in error).

re: “Why doesn’t every news organization have a wiki for every fact that they know (going forward…)?

for many good reasons, I suspect… (not divulging the info to competitors is the first that comes to mind)

Delia

STILL MORE:

re: “And despite continued White House denials, four well-placed and separate sources have told ABC News that initial tests on the anthrax by the US Army at Fort Detrick, Maryland, have detected trace amounts of the chemical additives bentonite and silica.”

–> I think this is *potentially* conspiracy to deceive the public (but just… potentially…) D.

Jon, I think this was the real problem and a database that tracks errors couldn’t expose confidential sources any more than ABS can just came out and do it now (if it wants to still use confidential sources in the future).

Delia

MORE:

Having an error database seems like a good idea; it could also include things like “we are working on a similar report” etc. but I’m not sure how it would work from the reader’s side: would you be searching at different times for errors in an article you read in a continuously changing database because you had a hunch an error might have been there? it seems to me that placing an update note at the top of the article from the time when an error is detected and giving the readers the option to sign up for email updates if they would like to be informed if and when any error would go into the database would be more user-friendly; I suppose you could charge a small fee for the service if *really* needed.

Delia

P.S. But this would not have prevented the major problem in the situation we are talking about, would it? D.

EVEN MORE:

here is the part I find most important:

“And despite continued White House denials, four well-placed and separate sources have told ABC News that initial tests on the anthrax by the US Army at Fort Detrick, Maryland, have detected trace amounts of the chemical additives bentonite and silica.”

–> I think this is *potentially* conspiracy to deceive the public (but just… potentially…) D.

MORE:

re: “If these events occurred the way Ross says they did — and if ABC has done sufficient homework to ensure that they were not part of a scheme to manipulate the network — then ABC would be justified in not revealing the the sources’ names now.”

The sources were confidential: they spoke to ABC on *this condition*. Whether or not ABC did their homework is irrelevant to whether or not ABC should break its promise (oral contract?) to those they regarded as sources.

Again, the courts could expose the identity of the sources if it was indeed conspiracy to deceive the public.

Delia

STILL MORE:

“If a journalist can not distinguish between a source, and someone who is trying to manufacture propaganda, then it must be left to the courts.” –> this appears to have been the case, ABC honestly (and not incompetently) thought those were credible corroborating sources.

Delia

P.S. The identity of “the sources” can be obtained through legal means without compromising ABC’s ability of using trustworthy confidential sources in the future. In the mean time, this would send the right message to those would be dishonest future “sources”: the courts will expose your identity if you use confidentiality for nefarious reasons. D.

EVEN MORE:

Alexandra,

re: “These questions must be answered and let the chips fall as they may.”

I think we should step back and choose the alternative that renders us better off. There is always a possibility to game the system, whether the source is confidential or not. And I think the consequences I am offering are probable, not just possible. No sources — confidential or not — can game the system *with impunity* unless they are allowed to do that. Doesn’t mean the investigation should be stopped — there should be legal means of getting the identity of the sources if this was indeed conspiracy to deceive the public.

Delia

MORE:

Craig,

True, but should ABC be required to forgo trustworthy confidential sources in the future in order to get to the bottom of this *one* story, even if a very important one?

Delia

P.S. you can also look at it from the public interest POV: are we all better off getting to the bottom of *this* story (and maybe a few others in the same category) and forgoing a lot more trustworthy confidential information in the future or are we better of accepting such isolated incidents of unfortunate duping as the trade off for continuing to get useful confidential info? D.

....

I would think quite a few trustworthy sources would decline to provide info you cannot get any other way if they saw you exposed someone else's identity, even if well deserved. D.