Twice in the past week, I have read information on a blog that I had not found or seen in the mainstream press. 

To start, was a report published this weekend about Mel Gibson’s arrest for DUI in Malibu and his anti-Semitic comments to the arresting officers. Of course where I live in LA, it was a top story on the network news stations. However, the story became larger when an entertainment gossip blog called TMZ.com reported that the police initially sanitized the report of Gibson’s conduct and then denied doing so. TMZ also reported today that Gibson has been stopped twice before but released “without a ticket or arrest.”

Mel Gibson, the Maverick

I was also fascinated by a post by Chartreuse. I am sure that initially the idea seemed quite unremarkable. Char wrote:

“I read a story about FEMA not allowing Katrina victims to talk to reporters. 

That sounded a bit outrageous to me so I asked a friend of mine who works in a position which allows her/him to see what’s going on across the state of Louisiana to tell me if it was true. (Sorry, they are not allowed to speak “on the record” to the press!)”

The result however, was quite remarkable and in fact scary. This unofficial on-the-ground-report from New Orleans provides an insider peek at racial profiling and police harrassment of Katrina victims. I have to say, the claims were so extreme, I wasn’t sure what to believe. I trusted Chartreuse to publish the truth.  

Despite the mainstream’s press’ view that only amateurish drivel and personal journals exist in the blogoshere, there are also plenty of stories that matter and contribute.