How Blogging Should Work

A perfect example of a blog accomplishing what a mainstream newspaper could not:
A Clinton volunteer coordinator, Judy Rose, recently resigned after she forwarded a bogus email to eight people that claimed Barack Obama was a Muslim intent on destroying America.

http://www.startribune.com/politics/national/president/12168316.html

The Daily Kos, a large liberal blog, jumped on the story, according to CNN’s Political Ticker blog:

“The controversy began early Wednesday when an Iowa supporter of presidential candidate Chris Dodd posted a comment on the liberal Daily Kos Web site, accusing an unnamed Clinton volunteer of forwarding an anti-Muslim e-mail aimed at the Illinois senator, containing charges that have been widely discredited.”
What a great example of blogs using readership to get to the truth. The whole controversy began with a casual tip from a reader. A journalist working for a media source does not have access to such sources.

The reaction to this story seems to suggest that the public is beginning to take blogs a bit more seriously (also from Political Ticker):

“Within minutes, Clinton Internet Director Peter Daou posted a message from campaign manager Patti Solis Doyle disavowing the remarks. The New York senator’s campaign immediately severed all links with Rose, a Jones County volunteer.”

Clearly, the Clinton campaign took the comment seriously, taking immediate action. Apparently blogs—and their readers—are beginning to command more respect at higher levels of authority. It wasn’t long ago when most people hadn’t ever heard of a blog, much less credited them with unearthing important, accurate news.
Quotes from the original forwarded email, from Greg Sargent at Talking Points Memo:

"Obama's parents met at the University of Hawaii . When Obama was two years old, his parents divorced. His father returned to Kenya . His mother then married Lolo Soetoro, a RADICAL Muslim from Indonesia . When Obama was 6 years old, the family relocated to Indonesia . Obama attended a MUSLIM school in Jakarta."

And:

"Since it is politically expedient to be a CHRISTIAN when seeking major public office in the United States , Barack Hussein Obama has joined the United Church of Christ in an attempt to downplay his Muslim background."

Here is the original comment from the reader at the Daily Kos:

“Over the past week or so, I have received two of the most hateful hit pieces on Obama parroting right wing talking points. One was forwarded to me from a Clinton county chair. The other was from a person who claimed to be a former Obama supporter, but a little work with Google revealed she had been posting pro-Clinton comments for several months on websites covering the campaign. They both repeat the Obama/Osama crap, andand the "madrassa" charges. And there is the conclusion that Obama is a mole whose intention is to make a Muslim revolution in the US.”

The comment is written casually; it does not seem as if the writer knew what a stir he would make by pointing a finger at a Clinton volunteer. Clearly, the comment does not come from a professional blogger or former journalist. It began because one contributor to a blog found interesting information and disclosed it publicly, starting a chain reaction of events that ended up becoming a major news story. I think that is how blogging, in a perfect world, should always work.

Also, it's interesting that while the mainstream media has not covered this story too rigorously, it is all over the blog world; Taylor Marsh, Politico, blogs for ABC News and the New York Times, Memeorandum, CNN's Political Ticker blog, Talking Points Memo, and a Washington Post blog among others, as well as the Daily Kos, which started the story.