2004 was the year of the Internet and the bloggers. Throughout 2004, the bloggers shaped the political debate, and the best example was the CBS fiasco. When Dan Rather and his crew decided to attack George Bush’s National Guard record, it was the bloggers who noticed that documents used against the president were fraudulent. While much of the mainstream media missed the story, the bloggers did not. This ended Dan Rather's career and shredded CBS' reputation. It also showed that there was a new force in the media—the Internet.
The conservatives and Republicans were not the only beneficiaries. As 2003 was ending, Bush’s lead in the polls often were double digit over prospective Democratic candidates. It was the Internet that propelled Howard Dean into an early lead for the Democratic nomination, and led by George Soros' millions, various left wing sites attacked the Bush presidency—including his policy in Iraq. As the spring approached and John Kerry moved to consolidate his lead in the Democratic primaries, Bush's ratings dropped. Without the efforts of organizations like America Coming Together and Moveon.org, this could have been a cakewalk for Bush instead of the close nail biter that it turned out to be. ACT and Moveon.org kept Kerry in the race during the primary season and kept the race close.
What we witnessed in 2004 was the expansion of the media. As I have written in the past, the media has been expanding in various forms for decades. In the early 20th century, the media was all print. When radio came upon the scene, Americans received a more human touch to the news, as they would hear a human voice telling them what was happening in the world. Radio competed with the print media, but soon it became incorporated into the mainstream. NBC and CBS had their roots in radio, and many of the reporters, who learned about broadcasting on radio, transferred their skills to television. Edward Morrow told America about the bombs that fell over London in 1940 by radio and in 1954, ended the career of Senator McCarthy on television.
When CNN first hit the airwaves, CNN was considered the outlaw of newsgathering. How could a 24-hour new station actually survive and make money? Now CNN is part of the mainstream media, and ESPN, the 24-hour sports network, is now part of Disney. CNN spawned new competition as Fox and MSNBC joined the fray. The mainstream media merely expanded. When 24-hour programming became established, it also opened up opinion journalism. Needing to fill in 24 hours, Fox and CNN included opinion programming with pundits giving their view on the news of the day. News programs were no longer about telling us the news, they started to interpretate the news.
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