Experts in the audience

Yesterday evening while I was watching Donald Rumsfeld's speech, at the Council on Foreign Relations on C-SPAN, three things struck me:

1. Pete Peterson:

   "I've been informed that this occasion is also being webcast. Someday I'm going to have to figure out what that means exactly, but it's apparently very significant" (audience laughs) (21:50/53:56)

2. Secretary Rumsfeld:

   "I find when I come to New York, there's always somebody in the room who's the world's leading export on a subject that I get asked about..
   and so I'd like you to identify yourself right now... All right then forever hold your peace...
   I am told, and it's not authoritative.." (28:30/53:56)

   

   This was in preface to his answer about missing Iraqi museum items, and given the context, a excellent piece of self deprecation.

3. Audience Members with questions were asked to introduce themselves. All of them professed an institutional affiliation except one:
   1. American Securities LP
   2. former Senator, Indiana 3rd District
   3. Morgan Stanley
   4. PBS
   5. journalist

The journalist was pressed for her credentials (she was a freelancer) and treated as an outsider. Her question wasn't even terribly biting-- what are you going to do to prevent people like Saddam from using the banking system to hide their assets-- but I got the sense that journalists were not welcome in the audience. (46:20/53:56.2)

This got me thinking about all the webloggers who are experts in their fields and how their expertise is presented and viewed.

• Politicians caught in controversy or ignorance fear expert opposition

Note

My Computer has access controls which prevent the public appropriation of real audio clips, but I was able to bring you this low quality screen shot by using the analogue hole (using my brother's Camera and tripod). #

Update

I was wrong about the whole access control thing. It is possible to make screenshot of realplayer; you just have to turn off hardware acceleration. (31 May 5:41 pm) # Posted by Tim at May 28, 2003 08:58 PM | TrackBack