Can anyone think of a big news story/scandal broken by a UK blogger in 2008?

January 1, 2009 3:06 AM

Can anyone think of a big news story/scandal broken by a UK blogger in 2008?

Every year on my blog I offer five predictions for the coming year. One of my predictions was:

"A UK blogger will break the biggest news scandal of the year."

I know that wasn't the case, but was there anything that came close?

posted by feelinglistless to media & arts (7 answers total)

Robert Peston on RBS/HBOS?
posted by zemblamatic at 4:20 AM on January 1, 2009

Nope, doesn't count, I don't think. He's a professional who writes a blog as part of his job which I know is a grey area these days.
posted by feelinglistless at 4:34 AM on January 1, 2009

How about the ol' BNP membership list?

I don't think it's the biggest news story of the year, though. Most blogs seem to regurgitate news rather than originate it.
posted by Mike1024 at 5:05 AM on January 1, 2009 [1 favorite]

The closest you'll get I think is Drudge breaking Harry in Afghanistan. It wasn't a UK blogger, but it was a big UK scandal.

That prediction was kinda nuts, though. A UK blogger breaking a nail would be more likely than breaking the biggest news scandal of the year.
posted by bonaldi at 10:26 AM on January 1, 2009

Guido Fawkes leaked a few mid-level scandals, but nothing massive I think.
posted by atrazine at 11:13 AM on January 1, 2009

Tangential point: one reason a UK blogger is in fact less likely than a blogger anywhere else in the world to break a big scandal is that he/she might have to face the country's repressive libel laws, which require you to prove any allegations you make with no allowance made for good faith, public interest, celebrity or public status of the complainant etc. So bonaldi's "That prediction was kind of nuts" is spot on.
posted by londongeezer at 12:07 PM on January 1, 2009

There was the Max Gogarty kerfuffle too, though hardly major and again old media linked.
posted by Abiezer at 12:43 PM on January 1, 2009