A READER WHO IS NEW TO THE BLOGOSPHERE WRITES:

I must have missed the incident that caused the term “fisking” to be coined. I’m sure it was an approach to “analysis” of something news, policy, etc. performed by Mr. Fisk–whose first name escapes me–who was (a lawyer?) in the Clinton administration. Your help would be appreciated.

Wrong Fisk. I like this definition:

fisking: n.
[blogosphere; very common] A point-by-point refutation of a blog entry or (especially) news story. A really stylish fisking is witty, logical, sarcastic and ruthlessly factual; flaming or handwaving is considered poor form. Named after Robert Fisk, a British journalist who was a frequent (and deserving) early target of such treatment. See also MiSTing, anti-idiotarianism.

There’s also this one:

Fisk
verb. To deconstruct an article on a point by point basis in a highly critical manner. Derived from the name of journalist Robert Fisk, a frequent target of such critical articles in the blogosphere (qv).

So there you are. A recent article in The Spectator misused the term, suggesting that “Fisking” is something that Robert Fisk does. That’s not the standard usage, though.