Fireblog, uh, doggers, on NYT frontpage re Libby livebloggery

by: David Boyle

Thu Feb 15, 2007 at 19:52:55 PM EST

  Not only Jane Hamsher of Firedoglake but also DKos Plame pundit and famous Michigan blogger Marcy [empty]Wheel(er) and relevant others made the New York Times front page today, see today's NYT, For Liberal Bloggers, Libby Trial Is Fun and Fodder,

"The perjury trial of I. Lewis Libby Jr., former top aide to Vice President Dick Cheney, has drawn every major news organization in the country to the federal courthouse in Washington. But none has fielded a bigger team - or was more openly crushed by the defense decision this week not to put Mr. Cheney and Mr. Libby on the stand - than Firedoglake.com.
  Even the Web-savvy may ask, Fire dog what? A collective of liberal bloggers, fueled by online donations and a fanatical devotion to the intricacies of the Libby case, Firedoglake has offered intensive trial coverage, using some six contributors in rotation. They include a former prosecutor, a current defense lawyer, a Ph.D. business consultant and a movie producer, all of whom lodge at a Washington apartment rented for the duration of the trial. ...

  (more fiery blogging below)

  "It's shown me the degree to which journalists work together to define the story," said Marcy Wheeler, author of a book on the case, "Anatomy of Deceit," and the woman usually in the Firedoglake live-blogger seat.
  Ms. Wheeler, a business consultant from Michigan who writes under the nom-de-blog "emptywheel," believes that some trial revelations have been underplayed in the conventional media because "once the narrative is set on a story, there's no deviating from it." ...
  The bloggers, some of whom are taking vacation or have flexible work schedules, are all unpaid. Ms. Hamsher describes the blog as "a collective watering hole" where contributors with diverse expertise "scour every possible source for information and then pool their resources."
  Its name is easily explained, she said: "I like lying in front of the fire with my dogs and watching the Lakers." ...
  ... she said that while she still worked on film projects, blogging was what really engaged her.
  "There's a snarky, get-under-the-surface-of-things quality to it that's really me," Ms. Hamsher said.

  Snarky.....who knew? Anyway, congratulations to yet another blog success story--let's see Kos remove them from the blogroll after this!  :P