You're famous now.
I will have to give The Sun and The Washington Post
our esteemed Twilight Zone awards though.
Posted on 02/11/2005 1:52:23 AM PST by conservative in nyc
"I don't like O'Malley and I am no Dumbocrat/Caligulite. Still, methinks you should validate stuff like this before you post it."
So wrote "Sartorius" on Aug. 13, 2004. The participant in a discussion board on FreeRepublic.com was responding to an explosive posting that Baltimore Mayor Martin O'Malley was having an extramarital affair.
It turns out that even Web posters themselves question the publishing power the Internet grants anyone with a modem.
Sartorius's skepticism proved salient: Another person posting about the topic was revealed this week to be Joseph Steffen, a longtime political operative for O'Malley's political rival, Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr.
That story, and Steffen's resignation, broke in the mainstream media. But it highlights how Web sites-with their freewheeling rumors and rants-increasingly are forcing more traditional news institutions to write articles that otherwise wouldn't see the light of day.
Rumors of O'Malley's alleged infidelity have long circulated in Baltimore but were not printed in such daily newspapers as The Sun or The Washington Post. It took postings on the Free Republic site, based in Fresno, Calif., to bring that gossip into the local papers of public record, as part of the story of a state official's resignation for helping to spread such chatter.
Free Republic, a conservative discussion site, was also among the Web sites that took the lead in casting aspersions on a now-discredited 60 Minutes report on President Bush's Vietnam-era National Guard service. Ultimately, CBS was forced to investigate its own story and fire key staff members for failing to adequately verify information before airing it.
The Web site's treatment of the O'Malley rumor and the 60 Minutes report underscores the dual nature of this new form of communication, which traffics in unsubstantiated rumors but can also serve as a check on the mainstream media.
(Excerpt) Read more at baltimoresun.com ...
The Washington Post ran a similar article. The Free Republic thread is here: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/1340900/posts
By the way, I find it ironic that we need to excerpt articles from the Baltimore Sun and Washington Post when they're quoting whole posts. I know this website needs to abide by the WaPo Settlement terms, but I would think fair use dictates we can respond to their articles point-by-point and sentence-by-sentence if attacked or quoted.
Wow, some of these journalism profs are freaked out. I guess we're starting to scare them- with FR and blogs, who needs journalism school?
Now, as to the accuracy of what's posted, a site like this is a great BS filter. If someone posts false info, a verifiable expert will chime in pretty fast to correct it. It's free thought out in the open, where lies can't hide.
The irony is, the original "treatment" of the O'Malley rumor on Free Republic actually came from the Baltimore Sun's own forum. The O'Malley "rumors" had been discussed there in depth for a year or more before they were ever posted to FR.
See also:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1340226/posts?page=53#53
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1340293/posts?page=13#13
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1339150/posts?page=368#368
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1339150/posts?page=371#371
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1190972/posts
PING!
1. Why do they continue to claim Steffen started the O'Malley rumor on Free Republic when the papers own talk forum had been posting reader comments for almost 2 years on the same subject?
2. Have they fully investigated the O'Malley rumors - talked to cops (they know), neighbors, City Hall employees (they know).
3. Have they fully investigated the origination of the rumor which surfaced almost 2 years ago - what election was taking place? Could in fact this rumor have been started by an opponent of O'Malley from his own party?
Freep Republic scares the heck out of the liberal media. They have no power over the truth.
They are sad little cockroaches scurrying from the light of scruntiny.
Good morning Jim - thanks for the links all in one place. The MSM may think they can attack us and paint false pictures, but they will find they are wrong. As a former MD resident, I've been sending comments and letters to the Balto. Sun -- not that I expect any replies. It's a known fact in MD that Baltimore City politics (read that Democrats) have been corrupt and dirty for years and years. My personal opinion is that there's something to the rumors and this is all a smoke screen.
" CBS was forced to investigate its own story and fire key staff members "
Did those people ever leave CBS? Last I remember they were still hanging around.
Translation: Now the rumors and rants are not always of our choosing. They've always published rumors and rants but the ones that they chose to ignore are now being published by someone else.
I think a lot of influential people, -- friendly and unfriendly -- not just journalists, are also lurking.
That's why I think we all should post each post with this thought in mind, that you never know who sees and how they will use it.
"The other three "victims" were asked to resign, have refused, and threatened to sue."
I would think that if you are asked to resign and don't you might well expect to be fired. Only if they are in a union (unlikely) or have a written contract (not unlikely) would firing those folks be difficult.
Now, to the topic at hand. I must give kudos to these Baltimore Sun writers for finally recounting this story in a straightforward manner so I finally understand what happened. I don't think they portray FR in an unflattering manner, considering where they are coming from.
My question: is the guy, O'Malley, right? having an affair or not? Is that still unsubstantiated?
It was never established as a fact that Rudi Giuliani had an affair with Christine Legatano (I might have mangled her name a bit) but the rumors persisted. You must remember that gossip, conservative, she was like, head of the tourism office or something like that.
This is interesting, and, I think, somehow symptomatic -- indicative of a systemic error of thought on the part of MSM pinkoes.
Do 'we' "QUESTION the publishing power"? I think that most of us take note of the power and of the implicit responsibility.
But for liberals ethics are a matter for academics and "ethics panels", not for the common people (except, of course, for protected minorities -- whose ethcial views they hold in contempt veiled in polite condescension). The idea that regular people might be productively and reasonably concerned about right or wrong in media is too much for them. In their view, they are the only ones wise and sensitive enough to know about such matters. WE ought not to trouble our little heads ....
First of all, please cite where I said the rumor is true. All I said is that I have talked to peole that have made this claim. People that suppsoedly work at CH or directly or indirectly for the family. I could go deeper into it but I have chosen not to. So get off of your high horse and stop playing Sunspot police.
Again, why hasn't the woman in question denied the affair? Her identity isn't exactly a well guarded secret. In turn, it wouldn't take much effort to get her in front of a camera
..... I don't know the rumors to be true or false, but according to the news last night, these rumors date back to 1999, so they predate the Ehrlich administration. That fact, of course, does not justify what Steffen did.
It looks like this story is really getting blown out of proportion. Maybe I missed something, but it looks like Steffen just commented on an existing rumor in the FreeRepublic thread. According to Bruce Elliott on WBAL yesterday, he first heard the rumor during the Dem primary in '02 - how do we know it wasn't started by a KKT supporter? Steffen's comments from Aug 13, 2004 are still available on this thread in FreeRepublic. You can see that the thread was started by Elkiejg - does anyone know who this is? Here are the exerpted comments from the thread, including the original post - has the Sun or Post published this? Steffen's comments seem fairly lame, but this does show he posted them on "company time": ......
Methinks the Mayor and his Lady protesteth too much. Apart from real political junkies and insiders, who knew of this story before the Mayor's Press Conference yesterday? I try to keep abreast of things, but I never heard of this rumor. So, why go public? Also, it seems a bit unusual that a newspaper's investigative zeal would focus on tracking down and outing the source of the rumors, rather than asking O'M to confirm or deny. IIRC, the Post and Sun spiked stories on the financial mess that Glendenning left for his successor in PG county until AFTER the 94 election. And I don't recall any investigation of his affair and love child with a paid state staffer until they were married. No, something doesn't smell right here
These rumors were around long before Ehrlich was governor. Ehrlich did not start these rumors. O'Malley knows this. He will stoop to new lows to get coverage. What a brilliant political move! This issue was bound to come up during the campaign. Marty has managed to work rumors about his infidelity to his advantage--what a strategist! Plus, whoever brings it up again will be perceived as out to hurt his family. I just have one question: What if he is a LIAR?
Even conservative talk radio admitted today that they sat on this story for over a year without further investigation. That said, I know the libs in the newsroom didn't rush out to investigate.
You're famous now.
I will have to give The Sun and The Washington Post
our esteemed Twilight Zone awards though.
ping
… with FR and blogs, who needs journalism school?
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