“Blogging” did not
exist before the internet. One only got their information from newspapers and
news networks. We all know that the United States as a whole runs itself pretty
dirty, and there were traditional gatekeepers that controlled what the public
actually heard, and constructed certain limits to how much of a story would get
leaked. Since the internet became public in 1995, anybody with connection can
post any information that they got their hands on. This newfound freedom
allowed people to bypass these traditional gatekeepers of information and
become informed from others or inform others. The leaders in public opinion
with (usually) and educated point of view post all articles they have written
on their own websites, and blogging culture was formed.
People liked bloggers
because they were a new source of information that is telling them something
that they did not hear from the government, which was truth. One of the first
people to break open a major story from the use of blogging is Joe Webb. Webb
worked for a small San Jose newspaper company. With the rise of the internet,
he started his own side website that was linked from the San Jose Publishing
site. He legally got his hands on a CIA report that showed evidence of the
CIA’s involvement with Venezuelan rebel group, the Contras, in a humongous
crack-cocaine scandal. Structured as a three part investigative report, “Dark
Alliance” became the most important published articles of the year, and
arguably the decade. Thanks to the internet, people could bypass the
traditional gatekeeper of the San Jose Mercury News, not have to order a
subscription, and be informed from his blog site for free. This is the power of
blogging. He proved that the CIA was allying with, but not proven to have
funded the Contras as drug traffickers sold and distributed crack-cocaine in
the streets of Los Angeles dating back to the Reagan administration in the 80’s
who were also directly involved. This was the beginning of the War on Drugs!
Reagan created the problem solely for the purpose of population control; but I
digress, because I am approaching a new blog topic. The point is that, drugs
are bad mmmkay. And you shouldn’t do them, or be affiliated with anyone who
does them. Even if they are the CIA. Mmmmkay. And without blogging, this
information would have never been leaked, and the CIA would have never gotten
busted. Three cheers for Gary Webb! And blogging! Mmmkay.
(David DiFabrizio)
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