See the hypercompetitive pattern? Hacks have always hustled to scoop rival papers. But tech blogs are being driven to distraction by the notion that they've been beaten by a story. In the rush to publish, they're not even stopping to check their own archives.

Checking actual facts is far more cumbersome. Jordan Golson, another former Valleywagger who now blogs at the Industry Standard, made a stink about a report on TheHill.com about iPhones coming to Congress. TheHill.com's overly sensational headline topped a report that merely stated that Congress's administrative arm was testing some iPhones. Golson called the flack quoted in TheHill.com's story, who backpedaled from his earlier statement that "lots" of Congressmen had requested iPhones.

Tom Krazit of CNET News, one of the guilty parties cited by Golson for reblogging TheHill.com, got to the bottom of things: Congressional IT administrators were testing a total of 10 iPhones, and all of two Congressmen had asked about getting iPhones instead of the standard-issue BlackBerry.

This messy process shows the blogosphere at its best and its worst. Through a series of iterations, the horde of bloggers arrived at the right result. In the meantime, however, a lot of people got the wrongheaded notion that Congress is switching to the iPhone any day now. (I'd note that TheHill.com has yet to retract its initial report; it would not be the first time a flack has said something, regretted it, and then claimed he was misquoted.)

There will always be a factchecking squad on the Internet. But I think the reblogging craze will fade over time, as the Web's writers learn the deep satisfaction of telling one's own story for the first time — not repeating someone else's for the nth.

The rate that my employer, Gawker Media, pays its contract writers was adjusted tonight at midnight. A "modest reduction." We'll find out the new pay plan by the end of the week. Writers are expected to continue working. No matter how much traffic their posts generate, writers will receive at least their base. On top of that, productive writers can receive a "Pageview Bonus," which varies depending on which site they write for. If I were a salesperson, I'd expect to know my quarterly sales goals well in advance.

Owen T.
Can anyone tell me how many billions of dollars more Cisco makes than .Mac? Thank you.

Jordan G. http://www.alleyinsider.com/2008/02/live-analysis-cisco-earnings-csco-in-line.html

Owen T.
Right. Thank god someone's working while you guys are debating .Mac.
Cisco tipster tells me that if Chambers uses phrase "cautiously optimistic" in conference call, it's time to run for the hills.
Campfire = audience of 4
Valleywag = audience of 100K plus a day

Jordan G.
We should make Campfire public

Nicholas C.
Gawker used to do that
sorta

Jordan G.
publish a transcript of the best moments from campfire

Nicholas C.
they'd pub IMterviews w/ each other

Owen T.
True. But until then SOMEONE FRICKING POST ABOUT CISCO PLEASE KTHXBAI.

Nicholas C.
Cisco earnings QL in

When Calacanis was almost out the door, I yelled across the room, "Google's better!" — than Mahalo (there's your link, now quit your bitching), that is, the "human-powered" search engine that's currently keeping Calacanis off the street. Having no response, he slunk out the door to peals of laughter.

Find him and interview? - O.
——- Forwarded message ——-
From: Chaela Volpe
Date: Jan 7, 2008 1:35 PM
Subject: Gary Krakow joins TheStreet.com newsroom as Sr. Tech Correspondent, Reports Live from CES in Las Vegas

After a couple moments of silence, Shankman says, "This is the most surreal moment I've ever been witness to." Then, of course, he writes it up. Thanks, buddy.

By the way, Krakow has this to say about his new job:

Valleywag: Why'd you leave MSNBC?
Krakow: MSNBC wanted to go in a different direction. I needed more artistic freedom.
V: Does TheStreet still exist? Have you been paid yet?
K: Don't worry about my paycheck. The new, redesigned site will be up within a few weeks with a focus on video.