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After Blogs Got Hits, CBS Got a Black Eye
Washington Post ^ | 09/20/04 | Howard Kurtz

Posted on 09/20/2004 10:17:47 AM PDT by Pikamax

After Blogs Got Hits, CBS Got a Black Eye

By Howard Kurtz Washington Post Staff Writer Monday, September 20, 2004; Page C01

Scott Johnson, a lawyer in Mendota Heights, Minn., put up his first post at 7:51 a.m. on Sept. 9. By the time he got to his Minneapolis office, he had dozens of e-mail responses.

One of them was from Charles Johnson, a Web designer in Los Angeles, who promptly posted his own thoughts on the subject.

Scott Johnson, 53, writes for a Web site called Power Line. Charles Johnson, 51, posts on Little Green Footballs. They were among the bloggers who blew the cyber-whistle by charging that the documents used by "60 Minutes" in its report on President Bush's Air National Guard service appeared bogus.

It was like throwing a match on kerosene-soaked wood. The ensuing blaze ripped through the media establishment as previously obscure bloggers managed to put the network of Murrow and Cronkite firmly on the defensive.

The secret, says Charles Johnson, is "open-source intelligence gathering." Meaning: "We've got a huge pool of highly motivated people who go out there and use the tools to find stuff. We've got an army of citizen journalists out there."

(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...


TOPICS: News/Current Events; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: cbsnews; forgery; killian; kurtz; rather

1 posted on 09/20/2004 10:17:48 AM PDT by Pikamax
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To: Pikamax
Burkitt: PATSY -NOUN: 1. Slang. A person who is easily deceived or victimized: butt 3 , dupe, fool, gull, lamb, pushover, victim. Informal : sucker. Slang : fall guy, gudgeon, mark, monkey, pigeon, sap 1 . Chiefly British : mug. See WISE . 2. Slang. One who is made an object of blame: goat, scapegoat, whipping boy. Slang : fall guy.
2 posted on 09/20/2004 10:23:19 AM PDT by blindmoron
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To: Pikamax

I was posting at Rightnation that night and a few of them were getting info from here for us to discuss as it unfolded. It was a great 48 hour online session for lots of us as we created the single largest thread ever on the site. :)


3 posted on 09/20/2004 10:23:20 AM PDT by Teflonic
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To: Pikamax

With all the publicity I guess I'm going to have to break down and buy some pajamas. (Rather was wrong about that too.)


4 posted on 09/20/2004 10:31:16 AM PDT by NaughtiusMaximus (A Progressive is only a Liberal with an Earl Scheib paintjob.)
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To: Pikamax

"The secret, says Charles Johnson, is "open-source intelligence gathering." Meaning: "We've got a huge pool of highly motivated people who go out there and use the tools to find stuff. We've got an army of citizen journalists out there."

True, and apparently, they have a lot more credibility than the media elite...and these citizen journalists do better investigative reporting...what need have we of the networks?


5 posted on 09/20/2004 10:43:03 AM PDT by milford421
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To: malakhi
[W]e created the single largest thread ever on the site.

6 posted on 09/20/2004 10:43:20 AM PDT by eastsider
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To: eastsider; Teflonic
[W]e created the single largest thread ever on the site.

LOL, good catch. Presumably Teflonic meant single issue threads rather than daily threads. ;o)

7 posted on 09/20/2004 10:52:53 AM PDT by malakhi
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To: malakhi

I meant on the Rightnation forum, not here. Although a few from over there were in on the thread here I'm sure.


8 posted on 09/20/2004 10:57:14 AM PDT by Teflonic
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To: Teflonic

Welcome to our little corner of the world.


9 posted on 09/20/2004 11:37:16 AM PDT by GoLightly
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To: Teflonic

One of the attorneys from powerline joined in one of our threads too. Don't ask me which one, cuz it would take me forever to find it again.

He stated that he was an attorney & trained in validating evidence for court & gave a few details about what they had worked on there.


10 posted on 09/20/2004 11:40:54 AM PDT by GoLightly
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To: GoLightly

So it really was an army that night, I think every conservative forum may have played a small part. I know we were sending tons of emails to get the story out.


11 posted on 09/20/2004 11:47:58 AM PDT by Teflonic
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To: Teflonic

Imagine what we could accomplish if we all pooled our resources. Hillary said there was a vast right wing conspiracy. We are becoming what she is most afraid of. :o)


12 posted on 09/20/2004 11:57:12 AM PDT by GoLightly
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To: GoLightly

I think we passed a milestone between last election and this election. In 2000 a lot of people were still new to the web and didn't know how to use it effectively. Now there are more people online than ever and there is a large base of experienced users. Too bad MSM still had their blinders on. :D


13 posted on 09/20/2004 12:01:01 PM PDT by Teflonic
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To: Teflonic

Freepers played an active part 2000 too. (I lost my original handle when a hard drive went kaput & I signed up for a new one rather than going through all of the rigmarole to get the password for my old one). For the record, I used to be "TaDa". Anyway, Freeper "Registered" authored the Sore/Loserman signs. Freepers were the "evil partisans" blocking the door when Democrat campaign people tried to take the ballots to a room out of sight. I am honored to be in the company of the modern day equivalent of those who threw tea into the Boston harbor.


14 posted on 09/20/2004 1:32:27 PM PDT by GoLightly
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