Fratricide
Talk about irony. Last week I gave grief to WKRN’s Brittney Gilbert that, within the context of her myriad comments about a certain blogger over the years, it was not unreasonable to conclude that she was a cheerleader for his firing. This week, it was Brittney, taken entirely out of the context of her years of work, that led to her ultimate internet demise after a single post about another blogger.
For those not familiar with the kerfuffle, a short recap:
Gilbert, a lefty blogger paid by ABC’s Nashville affiliate to keep up with the happenings of the local blogosphere, linked without comment to a distasteful eulogy of a lefty blogger I’d never heard of. Apparently, that didn’t mean that others hadn’t heard of him. So when the uber-lefty folks at Jesus’ General site caught wind of it, they pilloried Brittney for being part of the VRWC. It’s the kind of up-is-down political universe we live in where Joe Klein is a neocon tool and Ron Paul is the kind of “good” Republican that “progressives” wish there were more of.
The friendly fire came chiefly from the Jesus’ General website. (The website is patriotboy.blogspot.com; he won’t earn a link from me.) I’ve only read the one post from that site, but given its tone, and the tone of the commenters, I probably won’t be back to read others. (Hey! Doesn’t that make me guilty of the same thing that happened to Brittney–concluding from one post that the entire website is trash? Yes, but I’m not calling for the Chief of Staff to fire Jesus’ General; furthermore, with 71 million other blog offerings, you don’t get much of an opportunity to overcome the crime of illiteracy.)
Brittney had a more prominent blogging role than most of the rest of us. Along with some accolades, that kind of exposure also brings arrows. Too many of those arrows apparently found their mark in her heart–and not in the Cupid sense. The tone of her writing conveyed that she had grown weary of that over the last several months. That she has decided to move on does not surprise me.
Brittney will land on her feet and do well elsewhere–about that I have no doubt. What I do have doubt about is the future of NiT. But now is not the time to discuss that. Maybe next week, after the refreshment of a vacation, we’ll return to that subject. For now, Katherine Coble is in charge.
MORE:
Insty Links
Blake
City Paper’s business section
