Journalism, Credibility, CBS, and Blogs

Yesterday, the independent panel investigating the "CBS memos" controversy resulted in the dismissal of four network executives (see this NYT report). The incident, which dates back to a 60 Minutes report in September about questionable memos involving Bush's National Guard service, added fuel to an already heated conversation about journalistic credibility, mainstream media, and the role of bloggers (as bloggers were crucial in identifying errors in the CBS report). These same issues will be the subject of a focused conversation on January 21-22, 2005, co-hosted by Berkman Center, Harvard's Shorenstein Center, and the American Library Association. The event -- Blogging, Journalism & Credibility -- will bring experts from mainstream media together with bloggers, technologists, and scholars to discuss the issues of online accountability, the rise of citizen journalism, and several other topics. The event will be accessible through a live webcast, an IRC channel, and, of course, reports of bloggers attending the event.