Capitol HIll Blue or RawStory: which do you trust more?

I've just realized today that I personally trust them about equally. RawStory may eventually add facts and sources to their Developing or Breaking teaser headlines, but when it comes down to it, both seem to mostly trade in specualtion and rumor.

I like my news to be based in as much fact as possible, and I'm having a hard time with the journalistic credebility of both sources.

You?

I think CHB is just a guy sitting around in his basement making shit up.

RawStory gets things wrong sometimes, but I think it is based on real reporting unlike CHB.

the time.

I've yet to see anything from CHB pan out into anything real.

Raw Story on the other hand has been on top of numerous stories in the past.

at least w. capitol hill blue he's entertaining

so i don't trust either of them but at times i feel raw story has printed stuff from black ops that just makes progressive look bad because it's so factually incorrect or else they just don't fact check properly once their emotions get into it

capitol hill blue is pretty upfront it's a gossip column & i appreciate the honesty & the humor

But I read both CHB and RS.

CapitalHillBlue is like the World Weekly News; I think it's implied that the reader is not supposed to believe what it posts. RawHeadline is just sort of a liberal Matt Drudge site.

RawStory in general seems quite credible.

That's why they have had stuff a little earlier than the rest. YES he did indict Libby and he ALMOST indicted Rove. Looks like the Christmas goose is still waiting to be cooked. Capitol Hill Blue is pure crap. Rawstory actually cares about getting a scoop. Capitol Hill Blue makes stuff up that could be true, we might want to be true, but they have no real sources.

I'm not sure on what grounds you say some of this stuff. They have been responsible for a great deal of solid reporting, something that's an increasingly scary occupation these days. In any case, they might even listen to you if you complain.

While you may not like their marketing/hype techniques, you also have to understand they're tiny and probably horribly paid, if at all. You see the same hyping technique used on TV all the time, so why the outrage now? Independent news sites need a growing audience to survive and those are the unfortunate economic realities. (Some techniques may be total failures and that may change with experience but one has to start somewhere.)

Besides, what's *your* alternative to the mainstream propaganda? I'll take RS any day of the week. CHB, I don't know so well, but I've read interesting stuff there that didn't seem like tripe.

Either way, whatever you read, you still have to think for yourself.

Which is when I started reading them.

John Conyers, no clown, worked very closely with RawStory, after the 2004 "elections."
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0412/S00261.htm

RS did everything they could to push the Gannon story to the fore, which is more than I can say about Judith Miller.
http://propagannon.blogspot.com/2005_02_13_propagannon_archive.html

RS recently did a piece on the 13,000+ Iraqi detainees.
http://rawstory.com/news/2005/Exclusive_More_than_13000_being_held_1115.html

And the Quran desecrations in prison
http://rawstory.com/exclusives/newsweek_koran_report_516.htm

Here's a list of RS articles that Brad Blog seems to think bear mention.
http://www.bradblog.com/archives/00001552.htm

Here's a mention of a few RS scoops:
http://releases.usnewswire.com/GetRelease.asp?id=55311

What would YOU like to see in your news reporting? The crap that the right-wing echo chamber throws at you? Why are you so anxious to discredit a bunch of reporters that are some of the very few who aren't bought and paid for by some huge corporation?

I don't consider either site a "news" source. CHB is like Wonkette and other gossip sites. It's fun to read the stuff there, but it's done so with a grain of salt. Even if the stories are true, I think it's hypocritcal for those who felt that a lousy hummer wasn't justifications for all the crap Clinton went through to advocate the same thing for Repugnicans. There's plenty of other real crimes and dirt to nail them on. Lowering to this level distracts from serious issues and gives this regime, it's spinners and its corporate media lackeys a means to divert attention and create non-issues.

Raw Story has jumped the gun many times. IIRC, they were the ones who were predicting upwards of 23 indictments...and this place was going wild. So much so, I saw a bunch of dissapointed posters here when Fitzgerald only indicted Libby. Sure Raw Story had Libby right...but they also had a lot of other people's names wrong...or at least so far. I've also seen the site "mirror" or echo stories on other sites as a "breaking story" (giving the reader the assumption that they were the source) and luring you to the site to find out it was available elsewhere.

My biggest problem with Raw Story and any other blog that lays on heavy with the advertising, cookies and other tracking tools. I understand that "hits mean bucks", but it's both annoying and disarming when my spyware protection goes haywire every time I visit that site. I definitely trust the Spyware detector more than Raw Story.

As others have said here...there's no one source that one should trust 100%...it's gathering many different sources and many perspectives. Fortunately the internet makes it possible to do your own "sleuthing"...any experienced "web head" knows where to look, what to trust and what's to be believed.

They screwed up on Fitzgerald? You mean, a small news operation struggling to get by thought they had a scoop on one of the tightest guys around and they jumped the gun? How terrible! We were all misled and millions died!

And based on that, you write off ALL the work they did outing Gannon and reporting on the rigged elections and their reporting on Iraq etc.? I'm just stunned.

I'd rather not support the mainstream news that passes for reporting, where the editors don't have to worry about jumping the gun because they all have cushy little jobs paid for by their corporate masters. Even if they screw up from time to time, I'll still support a true indie outfit any day.

Fitzgerald is one hell of a big story...and it wasn't just one "scoop"...it was several. I realize they're a small, start-up...but they jumped the gun several times. Or...tonight, for example...someone's splashing that Raw Story has the "exclusive" that Fitzgerald met with the Grand Jury and ready to indict. Too bad that story had been on Talk Left, Firedoglake and Talking Points Memo before.

Also, you didn't address the spyware issue...which is a major problem with me. Half the time, my computer won't access the site cause it's caught another piece of spyware or tracking cookie that has been determined to be a "spam" site or put files inside your computer that allows their advertisers to track where you go and who knows what else.

Regarding Gannon...I wouldn't do handsprings on that story...what did it lead to? Convictions? All I could tell was Jeffy got emabarassed for a couple weeks (and didn't seem to bother him a bit) and not much else. It sure didn't open the door into the massive GOOP propaganda operation and money laundering that some of us hoped it would...it's gonna take Abramoff to make that happen (and where was Raw Story's coverage there??). All Gannon/Gunkert turned into was a circus...people trying to figure out the goon's sex life rather than the focus being on the media being manipulated by this regime. It did more to hurt than it did to help.

I won't even go into the elections...and I'm still waiting for proof of a lot of the "rigged" elections that many here claim occured. Plenty of circumstantial pieces, but no real hard evidence. Instead, it became...and remains...a crutch for some to wake up to some seriosu problems the Democratic party has in reaching moderate voters and winning elections.

First...I don't call it "Mainstreet" or "Mainstream"...it's Corporate media. It doesn't reflect the values of "mainstream" people...it exploits people to sell papers, advertising and ideology. Independent sources are important...and there are some very, very good ones. This thread dealt with two that I don't consider to be in that group. Maybe one day.

No spyware here, sorry. Maybe it's time to revamop your security.

You sound like the typical "customer service" rep...blame the machine, the owner...someone else. Sorry. My machines are very updated and very protected and firewalled. When my spyware detectors goes off it's cause there's something on that site that is either tracking keystrokes, forcing unwanted pop-ups and other crap on your machine or just putting a tracking cookie inside that can follow where you surf. Raw Story still sets off that detector...or one of their advertisers. As long as that continues, I won't access their site. And why bother? Anything they claim to be "exclusive" is posted here (many, many times). So should I expect Karl Rove to frogwalk today?

But Capitol Hill Blue can be hilarious at times from what I read when they post stuff from it on DU. I agree with the previous that Raw Story is like a liberal Matt Drudge tabloid type site. At least they haven't been hyping anything here lately.

Basically I don't put much credibility in most of these gossipy web sites except for sources like Yahoo news and other solid hard news sources. Yahoo news is my main source of political news, I don't visit any other blogs or sites other than DU.

I am under the impression that CHB is much like National Lampoon. I think that it should be appreciated for what it is. (I remember years ago, when a "frat brother" was not able to recognize that National Lampoon was tongue-in-cheek. Pete was conservative then, and I'm sure he believes President Bush is a war hero today.)

Raw Story is a serious news source. It has an aggressive style that I like. I have had an interest in the Plame scandal, and I find Raw Story to have great infomation on it. When a few people complain about their predictions on who Fitzgerald would indict, because it appeared Rove skated for a brief period, I'd say please be patient. The truth is coming to light.

I'm not against ads on principle, but most commercial sites have a modicum of respect for its readers.