Memogate
September 8: CBS News 60 Minutes II airs segment questioning whether President Bush fulfilled his obligations in Texas Air National Guard, exhibiting damaging memos purportedly by Lt. Col. Jerry B. Killian, Bush's supervisor. CBS had delivered copies of the memos to the White House that same morning.
- 19 minutes into broadcast, "TankerKC" notes on conservative message board FreeRepublic.com that memos are "not in the style that we used when I came into the USAF"
- 4 hours later "Buckhead" questions memos' typography
- Research and counter-research among conservative & liberal blogs
- Quickly escalates to The Drudge Report, talk radio, cable news, and MSM
- CBS anchor Dan Rather apologies, announces retirement. CBS News fires 4 top journalists
- "Buckhead" revealed as Harry W. MacDougland, Atlanta conservative Republican lawyer, helped draft petition for Arkansas Supreme Court to disbar President Clinton
Agincourt! Bloggers 'People of the Year'!
This media narrative continues to evidence potency, bloggers credited in everything from Howard Dean's election as Democratic National Committee Chair to exposing safety flaws in Kryptonite bicycle locks.