Richard Edelman on the current, ludicrous Forbes anti-blog cover story:

The Forbes cover story in the November 14 edition, titled, “Attack of the Blogs! They Destroy Brands and Wreck Lives Is There Any Way To Fight Back?” is a stunning attempt to create a parallel reality. In a style reminiscent of former President Richard Nixon, the article skewers the blogosphere as “the ultimate vehicle for brand-bashing, personal attacks, political extremism and smear campaigns.”

Is this the beginning of an effort to deposition blogs? Is it simply a case of Forbes trying to take an opposite stand from Business Week, which published a very positive article, “Blogs Will Change Your Business,” in the May 2, 2005 edition? Whatever the motive, the takeaway for corporate executives is beware the blogosphere, because as the article states, “The combination of massive reach and legal invulnerability makes corporate character assassination easy to carry out.” This is exactly the wrong message at the wrong time.