Yahoo! News - Blog-Tracking May Gain Ground Among U.S. Intelligence Officials

by Doug Tsuruoka, 4/27/04, pointed out by Rochelle on LisNews.com "some analysts say U.S. intelligence and law enforcement officials might be starting to track blogs for important bits of information. This interest is a sign of how far Web media such as blogs have come in reshaping the data-collection habits of intelligence professionals and others, even with the knowledge that the accuracy of what's reported in some blogs is questionable. News and intelligence is about listening with a critical ear, and blogs are just another conversation to listen to and evaluate. They also are closer to (some situations) and may serve as early alerts," said Jock Gill, a former adviser on Internet media to President Clinton (news - web sites), in a later phone interview, after he spoke on the panel." How reliable and authoritative they are is not necessarily the point. Spreading disinformation through them is a good point, though. Note: also avail through Lexis-Nexis.