The blogger backlash has already begun

While blog may be word of the year in some quarters, recent days have seen bloggers described in less than flattering terms: in America, CNET reports NBC news anchor, Tom Brokaw,

"compared blogger criticism of Dan Rather's "60 Minutes II" report on President Bush's military service record to a "political jihad." Brokaw's designated successor, Brian Williams, also appears less than enamored of the blogosphere. During a recent panel discussion organized by Time Magazine to discuss candidates for Person of the Year, Williams suggested bloggers were "on an equal footing with someone in a bathroom with a modem."

Meanwhile, in Australia, The Blog Herald reports:

"political gossip site Crikey.com.au has slammed bloggers in an section of its subscriber email of 2 Dec (second edition) with this reference in relation to the proposed Australian Blogging Conference “Four-eyed nerds from everywhere will be converging on Melbourne in February for the 2005 Australian Blogging Conference. Losers, lepers and social misfits who have previously only been able to interact with the world through the safety of their blog spots will come out into the light to meet their brethren face-to-face for the first time. What will happen? Only time will tell.”

Rather helpfully, the report then suggests sharing your thoughts with Crikey editor Stephen Mayne at boss@crikey.com.au