Posted on 09/21/2004 2:52:43 PM PDT by Caoilfhionn
Blogs' power demands responsibility
....It's not an extraordinary act when a news organization admits a mistake, but what CBS and Dan Rather did on Monday was extraordinary.
They admitted that they no longer can vouch for the authenticity of documents used to support a story about President Bush's Vietnam War-era National Guard service, a topic that could swing a close election.
It largely happened because of bloggers......
.... The blogging community, which calls itself the blogosphere, is riding high because a few bloggers are deservedly taking credit for shining a spotlight on the documents CBS used in its "60 Minutes II" piece. Soon after the show aired, bloggers began questioning the authenticity of the documents, which ignited a frenzy of allegations that led to CBS' apology Monday. Everybody is served when the truth comes out, so it appears that in this case the bloggers performed a valuable public service.
Their motives may not have been so pure.
The blogger credited with making the biggest stink was somebody named "Buckhead," who was posting his theories on a blog called freerepublic.com.
Turns out, according to the Los Angeles Times, that "Buckhead" is Harry MacDougald, an Atlanta lawyer with ties to conservative Republican causes, something he resisted disclosing when asked.
The Chicago Tribune reported Sunday that "Mike," the operator of a blog called rathergate.com, is a 29-year-old Republican political operative named Mike Krempasky.
Neither of these bloggers did anything wrong by pursuing the truth, but they are a great example of why bloggers need to be scrutinized as closely as they scrutinized CBS.....
(Excerpt) Read more at chicagoredeye.com ...
I wrote about my experience with this idiot regarding this article on my blog today. I'd like to hear everybody's opinion on what he wrote here. Needless to say, this hot-headed Irishman has not calmed down yet.
We scrutinize ourselves. I can think of nothing more scrutinized than a post on FR.
The problem is that 'poor reporter' in Chicago is upset that someone did his job better than he EVER could.
Oh I didn't post the most important part.
He singled out FreeRepublic.com as the bloggers responsible for pointing out that the Documents were fakes.
This guy sounds like a real idiot.
I think he must be a Democrat operative. Has he appeared at any Democrat Party fund-raisers in Travis county, Texas lately?
His political affiliations and connections need to be explored and exposed.
Yes those nameless crack researchers at C=bs haven't come forward yet to take responsibility for their lack of credibility. He's just po's that a research staff of thousands makes his ability to peddle his mindless dribble harder.
I think this is true but wouldn't "The Blog" be much better. Sort of a takeoff on The Borg from Star Trek. It has a much better ring to it.
To the Chicago Tribune:
"Doctor, heal thyself."
We'll start scrutinizing the blogosphere just as soon as we rectally examine all print and broadcast journalists.
What's with all this "operative" stuff anymore? If your a republican you must be an operative.
We are Blog. Resistance is futile.
You said it!!! I think we're pretty much self-policing over here.
I'm just irritated that we need to have a proctologist help feret out the news from a SKERRY perspective over and above everything else!
I wouldn't cross the street to piss on the guy if he were burning to death...we need to thin the herd out...
No, he didn't but the research is in, only about 8% of media pundits think of themselves as conservatives. Leaves little doubt how they would vote, does it? Of course you could add the CPUSA candidate and the GREEN party in there--it probably wouldn't all go to Kerry.
It's called cleaning the gene pool, lol
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.