Free Republic

Of all the stories leading America’s annual greatest-hits list, the one that subsumes the rest is the evolution of information in the Age of Blogging. Not since the birth of the printing press have our lives been so dramatically affected by the way we create and consume information. What is wonderful and miraculous about the Internet needs little elaboration. We all marvel at the ease with which we can access information, whether reading government documents previously available only to a few, or tracking down old friends and new enemies. It is this latter – our new enemies – that interests...

It was the journalistic equivalent of a drive-by shooting. The targets of Washington Post reporters Jonathan Finer and Doug Struck were two of journalism's favorites: Web loggers and the U.S. military. "Bloggers, Money, Now Weapons in Information War," read the headline over their story, which appeared last Monday. "U.S. Recruits Advocates to the Front, Pays Iraqi TV Stations for Coverage," the subhed said. "Retired soldier Bill Roggio was a computer technician living in New Jersey less than two months ago when a Marine officer half a world away made him an offer he couldn't refuse," the story began. The insinuation...

The war in Vietnam is often referred to as the first war on television, and the wars in Afghanistan and now in Iraq will be known as the first wars to be blogged. A new generation of soldier bloggers in the US, known as milbloggers, are both fighting in the field and writing about their experiences. It is opening up a new window on modern warfare and is creating a new genre of war-time writing. However, some of these pioneering frontline bloggers fear that the golden age of milblogging has already passed as military officials begin to clamp down on...

Bill Roggio fights back against the Washington Post hit piece on him. HH: I'm so pleased now to continue part two of the lookback at the meltdown in the mainstream media by talking to Bill Roggio right now. I believe he's still in Iraq. Bill, are you still there? BR: Hi, Hugh. No, I left Iraq. I've been home for about a week now. HH: All right. Bill, you were the subject of a slamdown in the Washington Post yesterday. I read it the same way you did, an attempt to cast you as bought and paid for propagandist. And...

Dec 24, 2005Dungy Joined Teens Who Post Profiles On Internet By BEN MONTGOMERYbmontgomery@tampatrib.com TAMPA - When James Dungy died of an apparent suicide early Thursday, he left behind a mystery on a computer hard drive.Was this 18-year-old, pictured on Myspace.com wearing a bandana over his nose and mouth beside text condemning the police, the same smiling kid who followed his father up and down NFL sidelines?Did the unassuming teen who took a mission trip to Jamaica and prayed in public really list the "D.C. snipers" as his heroes?Was he just showing off when he posted pictures of marijuana, pistols and...

Of all the stories leading America's annual greatest-hits list, the one that subsumes the rest is the continuing evolution of information in the Age of Blogging. Not since the birth of the printing press have our lives been so dramatically affected by the way we create and consume information - both to our enormous benefit and, perhaps, to our growing peril. What is wonderful and miraculous about the Internet needs little elaboration. We all marvel at the ease with which we can access information - whether reading government documents previously available only to a few, or tracking down old friends...

Disinformation Operations Flaws in The Washington Post's article on Information Operations By Bill Roggio Monday’s Washington Post featured an article written by Jonathan Finer and Doug Struck titled Bloggers, Money Now Weapons in Information War - U.S. Recruits Advocates to the Front, Pays Iraqi TV Stations for Coverage, of which my embed in Iraq was the subject of scrutiny as a military information operation. There are three problems with this article which require a response: the use iof incorrect facts which could have been easily checked; the portrayal of my embed as an information operation; and equating U.S. military information...

Picked-up this story from a morning recon into the enemy territory known as The Democratic underground: Bloggers, Money Now Weapons in Information War Now when I saw the headline, I thought this article may be about an active campaign hatched, driven, and directed by the by the military in an effort to use the blogosphere for propaganda purposes. The article, however, talks about something much different...

Liberal exec resigns amid blog controversy Dec. 26, 2005. 08:25 PM TARA BRAUTIGAM CANADIAN PRESS A high-ranking official within the Liberal Party of Canada resigned today after he made disparaging comments on his blog about NDP Leader Jack Layton and his wife, NDP candidate Olivia Chow. Mike Klander, executive vice-president of the federal Liberal party's Ontario wing, stepped down after photographs of Chow, the NDP candidate for the Toronto riding of Trinity-Spadina, and a chow chow dog were posted on his blog dated Dec. 9 under the heading ``Separated at Birth." The blog also contained an offensive reference to Layton....

BAGHDAD -- Retired soldier Bill Roggio was a computer technician living in New Jersey less than two months ago when a Marine officer half a world away made him an offer he couldn't refuse. Frustrated by the coverage they were receiving from the news media, the Marines invited Roggio, 35, who writes a popular Web log about the military called "The Fourth Rail" ( http://www.billroggio.com ), to come cover the war from the front lines. He raised more than $30,000 from his online readers to pay for airfare, technical equipment and body armor. A few weeks later, he was posting...

Is talk radio really just an entertainment medium, or do listeners expect bona fide activism from air personalities? In the past, I'd always believed it was about appealing to a segment of the radio audience and primarily reflecting that group's political viewpoints. It's now clear, however, that faced with an increasing number of new media choices, talk radio listeners want quite a lot more. Simply being entertaining, timely and compelling isn't enough: led by the blogosphere, there's a sense that if the Internet can hold Dan Rather accountable, why can't talk radio? Blogs have raised the bar and hosts are...

wo months ago, I began reading the newspaper with a new set of eyes. That's when The New Republic launched The Plank, a crackling blog to which I regularly contribute. Before my new career, I had largely consumed the Times, the Post, and the Journal in search of information. Now I read them in search of items. This eternal quest for Plank grist has changed my relationship to these papers. They used to be my Starbucks buddies, but now I treat them more as adversaries, to be debunked and ridiculed. Newspapers deserve an army of enemies that nag them to...

A first place finish will expose our work to a much larger audience. Vote now and vote every 24 hours. Voting Ends December 15th. It takes just a few seconds. Click the link below: Click here

Our very own FReeper "Doctor ZIn" is now involved in a very important online contest between HIS website "Regime Change IRAN", and the equally well-respected "IRAQ the Model." BOTH have been nominated as finalists for the "Best Middle East blog" in the Annual Weblog Awards. www.WEBLOGawards.org As Doctor ZIn posted on a previous thread:Earlier today I wrote the folks over at Iraq the Model, last year's winner of the weblog award and current leader in the polls. I told them that I admired their work and was therefore frustrated that we are "competitors" in the weblogawards. They [the folks...

This is important! A couple of our own are losing badly to far left blogs in Wizbang's Weblog awards. I wouldn't care, but the fact is they're only losing because Daily Kos, DU, Crooks and Liars and and other radical left-wingers are pleading with their readers to keep conservatives from winning. Please support these blogs! You can vote once every 24 hours until December 15th: Michelle Malkin for Best Blog. She's losing to Daily Kos. This can't happen! Vote for Wuzzadem for Best New Blog. Wuzzadem is a Freeper, and is losing to a terrible blog called "Yellow Dog Blog",...

For a long time, I have hoped that the progressive blogosphere would eventually emerge as an important cornerstone of a new progressive media empire that would not only serve as a counterweight to the Republican Noise Machine, but would even come to surpass the efforts of the right. To this end, I have written numerous posts, essays and articles lauding the growing influence of the progressive blogosphere, including the report The Emergence of the Progressive Blogosphere for NPI that I co-authored with Matt. However, after sepnding most of the day compiling research for another project I am working on, I...

Weblog Awards Update: [http://weblogawards.org/2005/12/best_middle_east_or_africa_blo.php] We have gone from 300 votes behind the leader to 125 (as of this writing). A first place finish will expose our work to a much larger audience. Vote now and vote every 24 hours. Voting Ends December 15th. It takes just a few seconds. Click the link below: Click here!

When the liberal activist Matt Stoller was running a blog for the Democrat Jon Corzine's 2005 campaign for governor, he saw the power of the conservative blogosphere firsthand. Shortly before the election, a conservative Web site claimed that politically damaging information about Corzine was about to surface in the media. It didn't. But New Jersey talk-radio shock jocks quoted the online speculation, inflicting public-relations damage on Corzine anyway. To Stoller, it was proof of how conservatives have mastered the art of using blogs as a deadly campaign weapon. That might sound counterintuitive. After all, the Howard Dean campaign showed the...

I know, I know. :o)It seems like only YESTERDAY that we were asking for your support for our very own FReeper Doctor ZIn, and his AMAZING "Regime Change Iran" blog.That was THEN. :o)This is NOW:Doctor ZIn is now involved with yet ANOTHER major blog contest!FReeper DoctorZin's blog, "Regime Change Iran", has been nominated as a finalist for the "Best Middle East blog" in the Annual Weblog Awards. www.WEBLOGawards.org You may vote once a day until THURSDAY, December 15th. [Seriously, the rules for THIS contest actually ENCOURAGE voting MULTIPLE times!].Please CLICK HERE to vote:http://weblogawards.org/2005/12/best_middle_east_or_africa_blo.php Please vote EARLY, and vote OFTEN for:...

The 2005 Weblog Awards are now open! Lots of good blogs are out there! Stop The ACLU made it to the finalists in the Best Law Blog Category. We are up against some great competition. Hopefully we can get some of you freepers to go vote for us. Keep in mind, you can vote again in 24 hours! Help us out, its the Christmas season! :) Love you freepers!