Friday marked the 40th anniversary of former Vice President Spiro Agnew's famous campaign against the press, including its most enduring phrase, "nattering nabobs of negativism," which was penned by the late William Safire.

Agnew resigned in the face of bribery and tax evasion charges in 1973, but an academic in Maine suggests Agnew's attacks are still felt today in this anniversary look-back.

The author thinks Agnew, who died in 1996, would like the 2009 landscape: "He would undoubtedly be pleased by his contribution to the current media environment. Never have the American media been bombarded by such constant criticism - from both the right and the left. The motivations, assumptions and biases of professional journalists are closely and constantly examined, and the authority of their work has correspondingly eroded."

"This was Agnew's ultimate goal; he envisioned a future where journalists would be called down 'from their ivory towers to enjoy the rough and tumble of public debate.' Relishing the cacophony and name-calling incited by his speech, Spiro Agnew would have loved the blogosphere. For better or worse, we live in his world."

Hard to argue with that analysis. Along the way "the media" morphed to become the dreaded "mainstream media" and reporters from information gatherers and synthesizers to being derided as "filters." And as the newspaper industry has struggled, taunts from the "you-deserve-to-die" crowd have intensified.

Mission accomplished, Agnew might say.

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