Over at Poynter Online, they've marked the first anniversary of Rathergate, the weblog-firestorm that enveloped the CBS anchor.
I think it's interesting that Rathergate has become known as the big story that first put weblogs on the news-media map. Indeed, weblogs played a key role in publicizing that story, and in keeping it visible. But Rathergate didn't start in a blog.
So does Dan Rather dispute count as the breakthrough for bloggers? The most zealous end of the anti-Mainstream Media would like to think they were there earlier: Andrew Sullivan would likely claim the Jayson Blair affair for bloggers, and certainly Trent Lott's resignation was. That was back in late 2002.
Ah, where did it all begin?
