Wall Street Journal: Rove’s Camp Takes Center of Web Storm. With more people turning to the Internet for news, bloggers have blurred the lines with traditional media and changed both the dynamics of the reporting process and how political rumors swirl.
The Journal’s story raises some good issues, especially the question of whether putting stuff out there to see if it holds up is a worthy journalistic standard. (It is not.)
But it’s interesting to note that the organization doing the best work on this rumor is the online publication Salon, where Tim Grieve has pointed out the questionable credibility of the author of the report — of a supposed indictment of Karl Rove — that the Journal’s story considers in its report today. The only mention of the reporter’s background in the Journal piece is to say he previously worked for mainstream organizations.
He does have considerable pro journalism in his background. But his previous mistakes seem to be at least relevant information.