Yesterday I noted a Wall Street Journal article on the signficance of blogs. Blogs are in the news again today.
The most significant article is the New York Times reporting on Firedoglake’s coverage of the Libby Trial:
The perjury trial of I. Lewis Libby Jr., former top aide to Vice President Dick Cheney, has drawn every major news organization in the country to the federal courthouse in Washington. But none has fielded a bigger team — or was more openly crushed by the defense decision this week not to put Mr. Cheney and Mr. Libby on the stand — than Firedoglake.com.
Even the Web-savvy may ask, Fire dog what? A collective of liberal bloggers, fueled by online donations and a fanatical devotion to the intricacies of the Libby case, Firedoglake has offered intensive trial coverage, using some six contributors in rotation. They include a former prosecutor, a current defense lawyer, a Ph.D. business consultant and a movie producer, all of whom lodge at a Washington apartment rented for the duration of the trial.
All day long during the trial, one Firedoglake blogger is on duty to beam to the Web from the courthouse media room a rough, real-time transcript of the testimony. With no audio or video feed permitted, the Firedoglake “live blog” has offered the fullest, fastest public report available. Many mainstream journalists use it to check on the trial.
Kansas.com reports on a panel discussion of the role of blogging in politics:
Five experts from the blogging community think their media is already playing a much larger part in swaying, and informing, the American public. The bloggers spoke on Tuesday night at the Robert J. Dole Institute of Politics, located west of the Lied Center.
“They’re changing every aspect of our culture and society, even our politics,” said David D. Perlmutter, associate dean of graduate studies and research in the school of journalism.
The story quotes some of the bloggers, including Jerome Armstrong:
Armstrong said blog readership has already increased 100 times since the 2004 presidential election cycle.
“This time it’s the exact opposite,” Armstrong said. “It’s a much more competitive landscape.”
He said candidates had always tried to be where people are and blogs were a way for the general public to reach politicians and also provide a forum for politicians to gage public opinion.
Over in Great Britiain The Telegraph has a story about a blogger who has been threatened with being jailed unless he turns over his information on a left wing think tank which is accused of illegally having links to the Labour Party. The think tank is required to be free of such political affiliations.