SATELLITE SCOOP: Virginia Postrel notes

SATELLITE SCOOP: Virginia Postrel notes that a blogger “picked up Iraq’s torching of southern oil wells three hours before CNN.”

The “is it or isn’t Saddam” meme was also all over the Blogosphere hours before the rest of the media picked up on it, thanks to NRO’s Corner, Stephen Green, and our little corner of cyberspace.

Obviously, this early information is going to be raw, and frankly, often wrong–but no more wrong than some of the gaffes that the media have made. But just as CNN came of age during the first Gulf War, then this will be the war that makes Blogs.

As to some of the reasons why, if you haven’t read it already, be sure to check out my essay from early 2002 in SpinTech.