There are some bloggers that generate their own content, fact check it and have done some great investigative reporting. Its hard to find a financial model to support the costs of travel, research, comms, editing and checking. Their overall impact is better in the gossip or technology world. Blogging allows you to post anonymous rumors, then magically delete them when the aggrieved person bursts their bubble.
Right now there are a number of legal actions that typically go after the service provider but there is an emerging group of lawyers who go after bloggers. Most bloggers can't actually pay up but the cost of defending themselves (whether they are right or wrong) is enough to convince them that their economic model is going to get a whole lot costlier if they can't back up their statements.
http://mikeyounglaw.com/wp/2007/06/21/b ... ory-posts/Most of the lawsuits are the "Dyncorp-Sucks" type or copyright violation. I don't like to litigate but often its the only way people realize the gravity and cost of the mistake they have made. Its one thing to say something, its a whole nuther think to spend $100K and a few months supporting whatever statement that led to the case.
Publishing a magazine or a book puts you into an entirely different category of legal liability. Which is why when I write an article I am vetted by a fact checker (who does not tell me what or with how he is fact checking), legal counsel, an editor, senior editor and I must submit my raw contemporaneous notes and I photographically document all aspects of what I do, scenes or people. In addition I have witnesses who can provide their own view of the event.
I have come across many deliberate attempts to defraud or mislead readers (like Jane Mayer, Carlotta Gall, Jamie Doran, news publications, govt officials, and other books) mostly because they thought no one was there or they could get away with it. I fight them all vigorously. For example, I spent (and continue to spend) a significant amount of time defending soldiers I was with in Afghanistan against trumped up accusations of war crimes. I also defend groups, individuals and anyone who is the victim of media of blog attacks using falsehoods.
In any case bloggers are far too causal with the well established methodology of publishing on the record and it would be refreshing if they were held to the same standards I was.
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Breaking News and Opinion on The Huffington Post
Darryle Pollack called her first blog "I Never Signed Up For This" in honor of all the times she has said those words at some point in her life as a mother, breast cancer survivor, artist, chocoholic, former TV journalist ...
Photo of Arianna Huffington
* By Arianna Huffington · 1 hour ago
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http://www.huffingtonpost.com * Authority: 30,059
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Engadget
* By WeblogsInc · 1 hour ago
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http://www.engadget.com * Authority: 17,005
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TechCrunch
Photo of Michael Arrington
* By Michael Arrington · 1 hour ago
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http://www.techcrunch.com * Authority: 16,425
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Gizmodo
* 6 hours ago
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http://gizmodo.com * Authority: 13,589
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Boing Boing
Boing Boing is a weblog of cultural curiosities and interesting technologies. It's the most popular blog in the world, as ranked by Technorati.com, and won the Lifetime Achievement and Best Group Blog awards at the 2006 Bloggies ceremony.
* By Mark Frauenfelder · 2 hours ago
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http://www.boingboing.net * Authority: 12,763
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The Official Google Blog
Mmm, well its the google blog
* By Manuel · 2 hours ago
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http://googleblog.blogspot.com * Authority: 11,609
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Lifehacker
* 4 hours ago
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http://lifehacker.com * Authority: 11,181
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Ars Technica Front page content
John Siracusa's blog at Ars Technica.
Photo of Ars Technica, LLC
* By Ars Technica, LLC · 23 hours ago
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http://arstechnica.com * Authority: 10,547
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Daily Kos
* 3 hours ago
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http://dailykos.com * Authority: 10,517
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Smashing Magazine
we smash you with the information that will make your life easier. a weblog dedicated to designers and web developers.
* By Sven Lennartz · 4 hours ago
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http://www.smashingmagazine.com * Authority: 9,444