Uproar Brings Focus on Role Of Bloggers

[NewInNewJ.]

By David Snyder and Matthew Mosk
Washington Post Staff Writers
Friday, February 11, 2005; Page B01

The Web site began as a sort of Internet boutique for like-minded conservatives and libertarians, suspicious of federal power and angry at President Bill Clinton.

Started in 1997 by a reclusive California conservative, freerepublic.com saw its membership blossom with Clinton's impeachment and the election of George W. Bush. Attention to the site reached a zenith last fall, when a "freeper" -- the group's moniker for its bloggers -- first discussed flaws in documents CBS News used in a report critical of Bush's National Guard service.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A15385-2005Feb10.html

[bluestateguy]

1. WP won't take registration from my computer.

I enable my cookies, blah, blah, blah, and it still won't take my registration. I'm done trying to sign in and jump through all their hoops.

Can someone post more of the story here?

[NewInNewJ.]

4. Sorry bluestateguy

that was my first post and I was so stressed trying to do it, I don't think I can add more.

[txaslftist]

9. Welcome to DU!

:toast:

[maddezmom]

5. here's a bit more

CBS later fired three executives and a producer over their work on the National Guard story. And conservative commentators and others hailed the growing community of Internet bloggers -- and Free Republic in particular -- for impelling mainstream media organizations to focus on doubts about the documents.

The Web site is once again at the center of a political scandal -- but this time, a Republican administration is the target. Maryland Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. on Tuesday accepted the resignation of longtime aide Joseph Steffen for postings and chat room e-mails on Free Republic that discussed the intentional spread of rumors about Baltimore's Democratic mayor, Martin O'Malley.

[HereSince1628]

6. In a nutshell the stimulus for the attention seems to be that

Gov. Ehrlich of Maryland accepted the resignation of an aid for posting on FreeRepublic in threads discussing intentional spreading of rumors about Mayor O'Malley.

[sonicx]

8. You can access WP and NYT stories without registration by...

copying the URL into google, hitting the search button, and clicking the links from there.

[Tempest]

11. Go to bugmenot.com

You can get existing accounts for web sites that require registration.

[radar]

13. BugMeNot.com

http://www.bugmenot.com/

Someone on DU had offered this alternative awhile back....

* There's a story on Americablog.org about the power of blogging today

OP/ED: What really happened with the Jeff Gannon Story
by Rob in Baltimore - 2/11/2005 01:03:00 PM

What is the Jeff Gannon story, really? It's about the grassroots rising up, organizing, and getting into the mainstream media with the story they want talked about. It's an amazing thing to watch, really.
Think about it for a moment.
How many people have contributed pieces to this story? Think about all the research that has been done by so many people. Think about the blogs, who came together and gave that research a platform. Think about the members of Congress who picked up, ran with it, and started asking the White House for some accountability. Think about the blogs that hosted all clips of Gannon's ridiculous "questions" putting a picture to the words and telling the story....

http://www.americablog.org/

[Occulus]

17. have you tried Bugmenot?

www.bugmenot.com allows you to quickly and easily get around those irritating reg pages. There's even a browser plugin, so you can just right-click the uname field, select 'bugmenot' from the list, and (if bugmenot has it, and they have lots for the 'big' sites) *poof* you're where you want to be.

I just love bugmenot. :)

[applegrove]

20. Thanks for the tip

[Califooyah Operative]

19. www.bugmenot.com nt

[brainshrub]

2. Why does FR get all the free press?

Ignoring political affiliation, DU is a better blog than FR any day of the week.

[NewInNewJ.]

3. Because

the press has been bought and paid for, just like A. Williams and Gannon.

[Whoa_Nelly]

12. It's negative free press

There are few, if any rules, on freerepublic--long-time members can pretty much get away with posting anything, they are not stringent about copyright infringement, or about moderating threads, with the main exception to block any newbies who seem to be lurkers.

Thanks to Skinner et al. who have done, and continue to do, an excellent job in making DU one of the more exemplary political websites!
:toast:

[Mojorabbit]

7. more

........ The Free Republic Web site, which group spokesman Kristinn Taylor said has 170,000 registered accounts, is unadorned with advertising and is regularly updated with news items taken from mainstream publications and other sources.

The Washington Post in 1998 sued Free Republic for copyright infringement, alleging that the site improperly used entire articles from washingtonpost.com. The Web site now posts only the first several paragraphs from Post articles, along with Internet links. .....
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A15385-2005Feb10.html?sub=AR

[Village Idiot]

10. Just wait - the Gannon contraversy will be SPUN -

By the RNC to cast a bad light on ALL bloggers...conspiracy...tinfoil helmet...pyjamas...evil!!!

[Occulus]

18. That's an amusing stance they're taking

I look at it like this: The MSM articles and newscasts happen once a day. For a very, very long time, only very limited numbers of people could get together at once to discuss the latest news as a group. This has changed forever; blog articles are definite 'works in progress', can be instantly updated at any time, and are (usually) accompanied by a discussion thread of the topic at hand. Kos is one example of this; we have much the same thing here at DU with the homepage posts.

It's curious that the MSM thinks following rumors is a bad thing. If you follow a rumor, it can lead to new facts, which disprove or further prove what's known. It only makes sense, in a format where one can quickly and easily update the contents of one's writing, that one be given a pass on the idea of "all the facts, the first time, every time." Blogs simply don't work like that.

I think I smell a big, steaming pile of fear in this article.

[Carni]

14. Funny they don't mention that in 1997 Robinson railed against Bush 1

As soon as Georgie boy Jr was in the running however, his tune changed... I would love it if someone could break the money trail on that outfit!

[UL_Approved]

15. When it comes out

I wonder how the FR digging on Dan Rather's story will be tied to Gannon/Guckert. I though that this was tied to the infamous Talon News...

[grasswire]

16. gee

They didn't mention the fact that Jeff Gannon is a freeper, and even has (or had) a freerepublic radiocast, and that he boasted of various nefarious deeds on the site.