Poynter on the Record

It was extraordinary TV, as riveting as it was disquieting.

As a nation watched, a stern Oprah Winfrey scolded James Frey, author of the best-selling memoir (and Oprah Book Club selection) "A Million Little Pieces," for embarrassing her, lying about his past and betraying millions of readers.

Almost as interesting is who brought Frey’s deception to light. It wasn’t an investigative newspaper reporter or a TV station. In a true new-millennium moment, the literary rug was pulled out from under Frey by thesmokinggun.com, a three-person Web site that didn’t even exist 10 years ago.

Which raises a question: Who are these guys, anyway?

The answer: Just the latest symbol of the growing power and influence of alternative news gathering in the 21st century.

“I see them as the equivalent of a journalism garage band,” said Roy Peter Clark, vice president and senior scholar at the Poynter Institute, a journalism think tank in St. Petersburg, Fla. “And as a person who was in a garage band, there is a great spirit to that. They did a wonderful job.”
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