…is Chronicled is some detail at Gates of Vienna (via lgf2) in a post sarcastically called Becoming the MSM:
Sometimes even prominent bloggers make mistakes. But Rule #1 of blogging is to correct all errors promptly and post retractions. A blogger’s credibility supposedly hinges on such prompt corrections.
To this day, Charles Johnson has not corrected or retracted these two factual errors, nor any of the others.
And, strangely enough, his credibility hardly suffered at all. His star didn’t begin its descent until he picked fights with some of the big guns in the American blogosphere. Now — two years later — he is finally recognized as a retailer of smears and falsehoods.
Funny about that.
It’s not funny at all but the explanation as to why it took so long for him to be figured out is explained in the next sentence.
Charles Johnson made his substantial reputation back in October 2004 as one of the major bloggers who helped discredit CBS, Dan Rather, and the forged “Killian Memo”.
Basically most people here in the states weren’t familiar with what was going on over there. We saw Charles become a 9/11 hawk, saw what he did with both Rather and the Fauxphotography and with those precedents decided that he knew what he was doing. We assumed this was a blog war and figured it was both a bit of a blog war and and to some degree an honest disagreement along the lines of “who do we want as allies”?
I wrote a defense of Charles back in April at the start of his big break with US bloggers and had this to say about some of the people he was talking about:
BTW: I didn’t include the “other side” on the various disputes because this particular post was concerning Charles and LGF. I’ve read and been happy to quote both Atlas and Jihad Watch on various topics and will continue to do so. I would recommend checking out both sites and Charles’ archives if you want the full back and forth between them. I don’t listen to, read or watch Beck so frankly I’m not really interested.
On the Vlaams Belang
(BTW I don’t have a problem with either Geller’s or Johnson’s positions as they are both in my opinion decisions of conscience)
I linked to Pam and I’ve linked to Gates, didn’t have a problem with either as I simply assumed it was a stronger version of the old CIA debate over how pure allies in the war on terror have to be.
Since I had read Charles regularly until other blogs overtook him in my attentions I missed a lot of the banning. It wasn’t until he went after Robert Stacy that I actually saw Or cared what was going on.
So I must confess that I’ve been more concerned with my own situation so here is the link to the Gates Correcting page for LGF. I suggest you read it along with Charles Charges from his archives (while they are still there anyway). It will not surprise you now but it might have before. Gates of Vienna is dead on with this:
He has become the Dan Rather of the blogosphere.
Back in those heady days when political blogs first came into their own, the bloggers promised the MSM that they would “fact-check their a**.”
But what about the major blogs? Who will fact-check their a**es?
The answer, in a word, is: nobody.
I am a very minor blog in the scheme of things but for what it’s worth I’m sorry I didn’t give your situation the attention it deserved.
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