“Blogs can essentially be considered as ‘the literature of revolution’, outperforming the major media.” (Frank Catalino, 2005, pg.78) The growth of the blogosphere has given more transparency to traditional media which probably has already been filtrated by higher masses. We are made more aware now than we were before through traditional media. “Blogging democratizes expression and has proven crucial in the struggle by many citizens in repressive regimes to be heard.” (Jason Whittaker, 2004, pg. 127)

“Blogs were among the driving forces behind the ‘Rathergate’ scandal.” (Hugh Hewitt, 2005, pg.27) As I have read from Wikipedia, the scandal of 2004 involved falsification of important documents regarding George W. Bush’s service in the Air National Guard. In an broadcast aired by Columbia Broadcasting System, four out of the six documents were presented authentic. But it was later found that CBS had failed to authenticate the documents. Afterward, the documents were concluded as forgeries by typography experts. Furthermore, the person who gave the copies, Lt. Col. Bill Burkett, claimed to have burned the original documents after giving them to CBS. Thus, authentication of the said documents was simply impossible to do.

Mary Mapes, news producer for CBS, acquired the copied documents from Burkett, to pursue a story about the George W. Bush military service controversy. These papers, which were supposedly made by Bush's commandant, the Lt. Col Jerry B. Killian, included criticisms of Bush's service in the Guard during the 1970s. In the CBS show, 60 Minutes, Dan Rather, anchor of the said segment, stated the documents were taken from Lt. Col. Killian’s personal files and asserted that they had already been proven authentic by experts.

But thanks to the Internet and the blogosphere contained within it, the documents were declared forged and falsified. One of them would be Harry “Buckhead” MacDougald, a Republican lawyer, who claimed that the documents using proportional fonts was definitely questionable since they did not come into use until late 90’s. Though CBS and Rather defended the authenticity and usage of the documents for two weeks, continuous scrutiny and criticism from growing number of bloggers, and support from big names such as USA Today led to a public disclaim, where Rather stated that if he knew then, he would not have gone ahead with the story as it was aired, and would not have used the documents in question. CBS News President Andrew Heyward also acknowledged their own mistake, and stated that CBS deeply regretted doing so.

After several months, a CBS-appointed panel criticized both the initial CBS news segment and CBS' "strident defense" during the aftermath. Producer Mary Mapes was fired, even senior news executives were asked to resign, and CBS apologized to viewers. The panel did not specifically consider whether the documents were forgeries but concluded that the producers had failed to authenticate them and cited "substantial questions regarding the authenticity of the Killian documents." (Wikipedia)