LAT: No Disputing It: Blogs Are Major Players (Freeper/Guard docs)

[DeepModem Mom]

THE RACE TO THE WHITE HOUSE
No Disputing It: Blogs Are Major Players
Netizen's late-night post questioning CBS claims about Bush's service spreads at warp speed.

By Peter Wallsten, Times Staff Writer


WASHINGTON — These days, CBS News anchor Dan Rather and his colleagues at the network's magazine program "60 Minutes II" are enduring an unusual wave of second-guessing by some of the public and fellow journalists.

For that, they can thank "Buckhead."

It was a late-night blog posting by this mystery Netizen that first questioned the validity of documents Rather cited Wednesday as proof that George W. Bush did not fulfill his National Guard duty more than 30 years ago....

***

(On whether Buckhead "acted alone"): "Absolutely, positively, on my own, sitting at my computer in my bedroom just before midnight — but not in my pajamas," he wrote in an e-mail exchange with The Times. "But once I posted the comment to Free Republic I was no longer working alone, and that is the real point of the story about the story about the story."...

***

Media experts said the role of the bloggers illustrated a significant development in the relationship between mainstream news and the still-nascent phenomenon of blogging....

(Some media experts warned that readers should be cautious about investigative journalism done by bloggers, particularly if they remain anonymous. A Free Republic exchange is cited: "'All hail "Buckhead,"' wrote one posting to Free Republic. 'Here, here,' wrote another. 'But how do we know Buckhead is really not Karl Rove….'")


http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-na-blog12sep12,1,3703412.story?coll=la-home-politics

[wellst0nev0ter]

1. Am I Supposed To Be Impressed

That a bunch of freepers convinced much of the media that memos were actually carved in stone before the advent of PCs?

[0rganism]

2. No, you should be concerned as all hell

Guess what? The media picks up our posts, too. A DUer wrote about a negative canvassing experience she had a couple weeks back, and it ended up quoted in the editorial page of the Wall Street Journal.

You won't see the media talking about the racist murderous pap that makes up half the posts in freeperville, oh sweet bob no, but when it comes time to spread the word, their spam machine can turn pure speculative bullshit into a story for the ages. Selective vision, shall we say?

Ironically, their disproportionate media influence is part of Clinton's legacy.

[jimshoes]

4. Maybe 60 Minutes can do an expose'

on the hateful crap that oozes out of that site.

[kskiska]

6. Let's not forget

The Wellstone Memorial negative spin began over there, too. They posted long lists of media outlets to contact to express their "disapproval."

[LauraK]

14. Agence France Press is the only 'news' source left in the US.

[DulceDecorum]

12. What is Blogs For Bush?

A. Blogs For Bush is a group blog dedicated to helping George W. Bush get reelected as President of the United States.

Q. How did Blogs For Bush get started?
A. The idea for Blogs For Bush came about in August 2003.
After seeing various Bush/Cheney '04 themed blogs, Blogs For Bush owner, Matt, thought it would be a good idea to create a site to help organize all pro-Bush sites and make them accessible in one place on the internet. Building on that idea, it was decided Blogs For Bush would help visitors who wanted to help the campaign get the tools and information they needed.
http://www.blogsforbush.com/faq.html

You will be happy to know,
that this earstwhile group includes
some Zell Millercrats who regularly post here at the DU.

[PROGRESSIVE1]

You should be concerned and also learn how to...

get in on the game. The Right Wing has fought dirty since 64' and we must do the same now. I don't care how we win this November, I just want to win. To much is at stake here to let * have another term.

[PROGRESSIVE1]

20. You should be concerned and also learn how to...

get in on the game. The Right Wing has fought dirty since 64' and we must do the same now. I don't care how we win this November, I just want to win. To much is at stake here to let * have another term.

[PROGRESSIVE1]

21. .

double post

[jpgray]

3. So when Rove doesn't put up a smokescreen, they'll take it from FR?

Note that all the lies, dissemblings and crimes of this administration detailed here and on scores of blogs don't appear to get any attention from our media.

[ewagner]

5. This is what I was

alluding to yesterday.........

If anything this whole incident has shown us how the RW spin machine works...who uses it..and how they use it.

It's a useful lesson and one we can certainly emulate.....

[DeepModem Mom]

7. I thought it was heartening as well, but others indicate our side...

might not be able to accomplish something similar, because the media cards are stacked against us. What do you think?

[ewagner]

8. I think we're

starting to "get it".

We have had several minor successes with contacting media...Walt Starr did a great job....H2O man has done some good work....but we haven't gotten to the main vein of the media yet....

I'm reminded of an old grass roots campaign technique called the telephone tree. You know how it it works, I'm sure. We need an electronic equivalent of the telephone tree that ends up with major newscasters.........

We actually have some great media resource threads but maybe they need to be organized more.

What do you think?

[DeepModem Mom]

9. True -- Josh Marshall seems to have made a name for himself...

as have Will Pitt and others, and they maybe could serve as a conduit for some of the work done here. We have no one, of course, with the ability to disseminate a story as Drudge can. This article is encouraging, however, if it causes the media in general to be aware of what can bubble up from what the article calls "blogs," so that if they're presented work from here they might not dismiss it out of hand. I believe Skinner has said that our national media resource compilation is being worked on, and hopefully it will be available soon.

[ewagner]

10. I was remiss in

not mentioning the Media Blaster and all the work Skinner is doing and for that I apologize.

[grasswire]

17. we had a stovepipe for a bit...

...and I think the structure is still there, when we DU-ers come up with newsworthy stuff.

WE Dem activists were responsible for a Bush campaign adviser resigning within 24 hours because of his conflict of interest.

We Dem activists were responsible for the story still gaining some legs about Bush's unearned medal.

The path is this: some Dem finds a nugget and posts it on a message board. The Dem grassroots researchers do their thing on it. One of the big bloggers picks it up. MSNBC's Keith Olbermann gets it on his show.

That has worked.

[leesa]

11. And isn't it interesting how WH shills like the LA Times seems to only

pick up on the pro-Bush blogging?? Simply amazing! How about you print the hundreds of bloggers presenting strong evidence of Bush's involvement with 9-11??

[Jade Fox]

13. So there was never any real evidence of forgery, just...

fantasies from Freeperland?

That's what I'm reading and that sucks. What is wrong with the media in
this country?

[VladTheImpaler]

15. It'll all come out soon enough...

...the truth will be told!

[DeepModem Mom]

18. Hello, Vlad! Welcome to DU...

:scared:

[Cocoa]

16. some are, some aren't

GOP blogs get their items reported as news, and lefty blogs are laughed off as conspiracy sites.

None of this is new, it goes back to the Clinton impeachment.

[janx]

19. Gore refers to them as digital brownshirts who intimidate the

media (which couldn't be more true), and now the LAT is helping to legitimize them.

Great. :eyes: