An observation I've shared before, but IMHO, what sets FR apart is the real-time, interactive nature of news dissection that takes place here. I truly feel that this is the future of news reporting and analysis.
To explain a bit.....
Someone posts a thread from AP, UPI, Reuters, wherever....and immediately, you get feedback/analysis from a housewife in Des Moines, an engineer in Boston, a lawyer in Chicago, a hunting guide in Alaska, a former military pilot in Raleigh, a GI in Iraq, a professor in California, a programmer in Dallas; you get the idea. Almost instantly. What the retired general may miss in the story, a sharp-eyed interior designer in Atlanta catches. What some "expert" feeds the news outlet, our own collection of experts rips apart and reassembles.
It never ceases to amaze me the collection of talent on FR. I've been on this site for six years, and have yet to see a topic here that has stumped our rather amazing set of brainpower scattered about the globe. By the way, the international nature of this site is often overlooked; we have regulars and visitors from literally every corner of the planet.
It's this real-time, highly interactive analysis that truly sets us apart and scares the hell out of the MSM, I believe. They can't stand up to such close scrutiny, for their biases and inaccuracies are suddenly illuminated under numerous, very bright spotlights by sites like this.
....and there isn't a damned thing they can do about it.
Agree with entire post - you said it so well. The old method of "news" has become tainted and it is time to reassert some integrity into the methods of delivery so that we never fall into the hack mentality again ever.
The internet can succeed if allowed to flourish and as future writers become even more adept at research and questioning and curiosity.
You write: "....and there isn't a damned thing they can do about it."
My concern is that because of its accurately perceived success:
.... the United Nations, and certainly segments of the global governmental bureaucracy will do everything they can to seize control of the flow of information to the public....
fresh, innovative, researched, argued, up-front NEWS and INFORMATION.
We must protect the innocence and vitality of what we have, never to release its spontenaity to a controlling group, and in order to do this, we must ever strive to keep the internet and what we produce, always a quality product, with a goal of the highest standard.
Yep!! Yep!!
I used to be pessimistic about the future of our country, but I'm starting to become an optimist. No lie escapes the attention of the "wired". We are performing the job that the "Media" used to do 200 years ago.