How blogs influenced the Foley story

Though ABC News was the first traditional media outlet to report the sexually explicit IM messages between Congressman Mark Foley and congressional pages, blogs first covered the story a year ago.

Caroline Ruse and Josh Swartzlander of Scripps Howard have a nice article on how blogs first broke the story.

The Stop Sex Predators Now blog posted suggestive e-mails about Foley on Sept. 24, after several earlier posts charging him with inappropriate conduct. The blog’s role in exposing the controversy raises questions that traditional journalists and experts have been asking about the relationship between blogs and the Fourth Estate.

It’s unfortunate for the pages involved that the traditional media did not run with this story earlier.