Does the Sarah Palin divorce story represent the worst of blogging? So far, based on the "facts" presented, I would have to say both "yes" and "no."I say "yes" because there are major problems with the original story. First, it is written by an individual using a pseudonym ("Gryphen"). As far as I'm concerned, if you can't write under your real name, you automatically lose some credibility. Opinion? Fine, write under a pseudonym, I don't really care. But hard news? I want to know who's writing the story.
Second, this article is vague at best with regard to "sources," talking about "one of my best sources" and "my source." That's it? One source, not two or three, and anonymous at that? This one "source" the basis of a potentially blockbuster story? Sorry, I don't think so. True, it's certainly possible that all this information - the "divorce," Todd Palin supposedly pulling a gun on Levi Johnston, "Sarah shopping around the idea of doing a radio show," etc. - is correct (note: another website called Alaska Report also is reporting the "divorce" angle, but Simon Owens at Bloggasm can't seem to get in touch with anyone over there either; hmmmm), but the problem with this anonymous, one-source story written by someone operating under a pseudonym is that there's no real way to know.
Back to the original question (is this the worst of blogging?) I say "no" because - at least based on my check of blog aggregator Memeorandum.com - it appears that very few blogs have picked up on this "story." And, to the extent that they have done so, there appears to be a healthy amount of snark and skepticism - greatly warranted in this case - in many of the stories. Also, even in cases where the "news" was reported as factual, there are almost always updates with the Palin camp's flat denial of the rumors. Overall, not too heinous.
In the end, the only way to turn these from "stories" (with the quotes) to real news stories (without the quotes) is for the bloggers and/or reporters to provide information that is verifiable, confirmable, refutable, etc. As of now, we don't have that, so there's no story.
P.S. Obviously, I'm no fan of Sarah or Todd Palin, but that's irrelevant to the question of whether or not this is a real news story. The same criteria would apply if a blog reported that Barack and Michelle Obama were divorcing.
