NP: John Cage, 4'33"

So, this whole Ashley Todd thing was bogus, which isn't terribly surprising. What bugs me about it is that no one on the right who was flogging this story will even acknowledge its existence by, say, tomorrow, and it's entirely likely that no one on the left will even remember it in a week. Just another episode of "As The Narrative Turns..."

I'm starting to get a clearer sense of the funnel from blog stories to 24-hour cable news channels to network news to newspapers, and it's pretty astounding when you think about it. It's also pretty sad, because there's almost a sense of antagonism between opposite ends of the spectrum, particularly in the blogosphere, where impatience is seen as a virtue. What do you mean there hasn't been an update to this story?! Refresh!! Refresh!!

If I were a public policy or journalism grad student, that funnel would also make an excellent academic paper, although it would mean cataloging a lot of story topics over some period of time, and you'd probably go insane in the process.