Interesting way to report on this

The Dallas Morning News is reporting about the "Internet-fueled rumor" that Kerry has sexual fidelity issues. But what is interesting is that the story isn't about Kerry or the woman in question. It's about the Internet and the media

"As an Internet-fueled rumor about John Kerry gained steam, Mr. Imus wondered aloud: 'Do you think I should ask him?' 'We've chosen not to report it,' CNN's Lou Dobbs told the New York radio host on the air. 'I'm not interested in the story.'
[snip]

Newxpaper and television reporters once had finite and identifiable competition, most of which played by similar ground rules. Now they're doing battle with untold numbers of bloggers, online sleuths and partisan radio pundits.

[snip]

'Case in point: On Thursday, the Drudge Report Web site reported that Mr. Kerry had an affair with a young woman. Matt Drudge's story named no sources, did not identify the woman and offered few details.

[snip]

But within hours, conservatives Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity were discussing the report on their radio shows.

[snip]

The entire story is at www.dallasnews.com. You have to register. It's a front page story, so you can paste the url into your address bar and that way I don't have to wrestle with blogger to get a working link. There is an interesting inset in the piece about libel and privacy on the internet.