(Bias: I’m a huge fan of Brittney Gilbert.) As near as we can tell, Brittney Gilbert was the first local blogger hired by a television station to do what she does best – blog. Brittney took the sensibility she established in Nashville at her blog, Sparkwood & 21, and brought it to WKRN’s Nashville is Talking. But the anonymous haters simply became too much, and Brittney has resigned:
I do not want to be seen as a victim here, I only want to honestly tell you why I will no longer be authoring NIT. Your host is simply not cut from strong enough cloth. This is the internet. People are vicious. They are even more vicious when they fail to make any distinction between you and a feelingless, faceless media company. It’s easier to justify the venom that way. And while some people may get off on feeding those frenzies of hate, I do not. I tried to not let it affect me but it does. Every day. The tears and the stress are just not worth it.
Now, I realize the commenters here will inevitably write something like “Boo hoo, if you can’t take the heat, get out of the blogosphere.” All I ask is that you read Brittney’s entry, where she highlights just some of the things the anonymous trolls have written about her in the last 24 hours alone, and see if you don’t at least sympathize with her. (UPDATE: Then read the hateful comments that continue to pile on. Amazing.) Some times you can’t win. It can get to be too much. There are people who will assail mainstream media, even if a local news outlet tries to reach out in an earnest effort at transparency. The web brings out the best and the worst in people. Brittney was brave to be the first at trying to help a TV station reach out to the community. It’s sad her hard work was shouted down so loudly by a small-but-vocal bunch of jerks.