Bloggers, Karl Rove and the presumption of guilt

Jeralyn Merritt: Bloggers, Karl Rove and the presumption of guilt
Jeralyn Merritt, The Examiner
Jun 20, 2006

Mr. Rove, Mr. Luskin said, had fallen victim to partisans and — more importantly — the bloggers who became their enablers … .

I say this as one of the liberal bloggers writing about Rove. The presumption of innocence is a bedrock of our criminal justice system and representing a client under federal investigation is hard enough without having to endure endless public speculation in which guilt is assumed.

But, media fascination with guilt is hardly limited to bloggers. The phenomenon began with cable TV networks, which have sold the presumption of guilt since O.J. and Jonbenet Ramsey. The truth is that guilt sells in America. The message the networks send is that it’s OK to speculate and make assumptions about guilt. Is it any surprise that bloggers have adopted the practice and trials now take place on the Internet? After all, not everyone can be a television pundit but everyone can play one on the Net.

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While Raw Story and Truthout broke news in the Plame investigation, they are not bloggers, but alternative news sites with their own investigative journalists. Most bloggers covering every detail of the Plame investigation, like Just One Minute, TalkLeft, Empty Wheel and Firedoglake, concentrated on reporting and analyzing the legal developments. Were those of us wrong who speculated Rove would be indicted? Yes. But we also were careful to detail and present our reasoning as our interpretation based upon media reports, statements attributed to Luskin and other attorneys involved in the case and pleadings in the Judith Miller/Matthew Cooper subpoena and Scooter Libby cases. How many mainstream journalists bothered to read every pleading, available transcript and court order in both cases? By and large, it was the bloggers, not the mainstream media, who gathered documents from the courts’ Web sites and made them available for all to read and interpret for themselves. Bloggers also educated readers on the legal process, from how grand juries work to the meaning of criminal statutes and the mechanics of cooperation deals.

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http://www.examiner.com/a-154825~Jeralyn_Merritt__Bloggers__Karl_Rove_and_the_presumption_of_guilt.html

yes, it's true, we bloggers, spend a lot of time researching material, and then present it
to others to read and critique.