"NEWSWEEK KILLS STORY ON WHITE HOUSE INTERN": Or so claimed the Drudge Report ten years ago this evening. Ten years. Damn. There's a lot that can be said about the political reverberations of that newsflash, but the more interesting significance to me right now is in what it marked in terms of the viability of the Internet as a news source, as a means by which information could jump past the "gatekeepers", the day on which "citizen media" started to take off.
For better or for worse, from January 17, 1998 onwards, any piece of information or analysis that some citizen wanted others to hear could be voiced publicly, could potentially find some audience, and in due time force those gatekeepers to deal with that previously unwanted information. Credibility was no longer solely attached to institutions, but to individuals who could demonstrate their merit over time. My favorite example is from outside politics altogether: Bill Simmons. He honed his voice on his personal website, built his audience virally, and ESPN came calling because of the credentials he built on his own.
Or, you may just want to take this moment and say, "holy crap -- ten years already?" Up to you.
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