Blogs in the news

May 24, 2006 5:18 AM

I need some examples of (major) news stories that were either generated, or kept alive, by blogs and bloggers. but my mind has gone blank. Can anyone help? All suggestions welcome..
posted by ascullion to Media & Arts (17 answers total)

The most obvious example is Dan Rather's career-ending Forgery-gate. Not only were bloggers among the first to question the authenticity of the documents; their dogged pursuit of truth was what eventually led CBS to air a full retraction, which is a step very seldom taken by national news agencies.
posted by The Confessor at 5:26 AM on May 24, 2006

Karl Rove's imminent indictment was much discused all over the internet, including here.
posted by bim at 5:32 AM on May 24, 2006

what about the Washingtonienne (sp?) scandal?

She even got herself a book deal...
posted by jonathanstrange at 5:50 AM on May 24, 2006

Several blogs, particularly Talking Points Memo, generated interest in Trent Lott's scandalous remarks about Strom Thurmond, at a time when I believe the media were generally ignoring it.
posted by Jaltcoh at 6:11 AM on May 24, 2006

Does the swift boat stuff fit in there?
posted by inigo2 at 6:31 AM on May 24, 2006

Guckert /Gannon!
posted by robocop is bleeding at 6:54 AM on May 24, 2006

The bird flu bloggers, of which I used to be one, have been quite active keeping concerns/fears over h5n1 up there. But I don't know how you'd measure impact, as their concerns are shared by much more influential people/orgs, like thw WHO, CDC, etc.
posted by docgonzo at 7:38 AM on May 24, 2006

In the 2004 election, the television networks (shamed by the erroneous calls and retractions of Election 2000) pledged not to report exit poll data, but websites, including bloggers, showed no such restraint, reporting returns heavily favoring Kerry starting early afternoon. Bloomberg Financial News Service reported that traders who saw the numbers reversed their presidential bets from President Bush to Kerry, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell by more than 100 points by late afternoon, with analysts blaming the reports of Kerry’s imminent victory. The web-based reports of the exit polls also allegedly influenced last-ditch strategies of various campaigns an d preparations for victory/concession speeches.
posted by roundrock at 7:41 AM on May 24, 2006

Ah robobcop, you beat me to Gannon Gate!
posted by freakystyley at 7:50 AM on May 24, 2006

Stephen Colbert at the White House correspondents dinner. Here's an interesting article of how it was handled it in the new media vs. the old. I was going to make this an FPP but I figured we'd gotten past the story by the time I found the article.

And of course, the Drudge Report broke the Monica Lewinsky story.
posted by hydrophonic at 8:46 AM on May 24, 2006

I won't self-link, but the Save the 76 Ball blog got covered on the BBC, KTLA morning news, and the front page of the LA Times.
posted by Scram at 9:16 AM on May 24, 2006

I believe (and I could be wrong) but the website little green footballs was one of the first to break the "memo gate" scandal. There might have been others, but I know that they did a lot of the footwork when it comes to exposing the fraudulent anti bush documents presented by cbs as real.

Se here
posted by allthewhile at 9:45 AM on May 24, 2006

Probably wasn't lgf, but rather posters from The Free Republic. See the wikipedia entry here: Rathergate
posted by allthewhile at 9:47 AM on May 24, 2006

Interestingly, Powerline picked up on the Free Republic comments by "Buckhead" after being alterted to it by Buckhead's wife...who they did not id as such. This was a lot less "grassroots" than it appeared.

Also, Kos and ePluribus Media were instrumental in keeping the Tom Noe coingate story going. (I helped research the story for ePM)
posted by Biblio at 10:41 AM on May 24, 2006

Have you seen the similar question about products (not news) and blogs?
posted by hooray at 11:25 AM on May 24, 2006

In the "news generated by blogs and bloggers" category, ye olde Metafilter did its part with the Kaycee Nicole hoax, which reached federal authorities at its peak. (see also: full summary [PDF]; MeFi's investigating)
posted by werty at 11:29 AM on May 24, 2006

Response by poster: thanks, those are all really helpful suggestions. much appreciated.
posted by ascullion at 2:25 PM on May 24, 2006