Net results

NET RESULTS
[SOURCE: The Boston Phoenix, AUTHOR: Steven Stark]
[Commentary] If the surprise results in New Hampshire had an unanticipated benefit, it is this: they exposed the myth, once and for all, that the Internet has made political reporting and analysis far better than it once was. Alas, the opposite is true. After all, thousands of reporters were scouring New Hampshire. Tens of thousands more (myself included) were opining on the Internet. Not one that I can find came even close to reporting that Hillary Clinton had a chance to win. It’s true the polls indicated otherwise. But an obsession with the latest polling information is, in itself, one of the things that’s happened to political reporting in the age of the Internet and cable news. Internet boosters have exaggerated the assets of the medium -- more reporting, better reporting, more democratic reporting, accessible around the clock -- in much the same way that cable supporters did when CNN and its sister channels arrived on the scene about two decades ago. In a country that’s bamboozled by novelty, claims in support of a new technology or invention will almost always be extravagant. The problem is that there isn't really enough news to go around in this 24-hour, up-to-the-minute cycle. And, sadly, there aren't enough astute thinkers to go around, either -- not than anyone can be that clever all the time.
http://thephoenix.com/article_ektid54688.aspx