We Want Media

Charles Johnson is the writer, editor, publisher, technical director, and all around Renaissance man behind Little Green Footballs, a blog that focuses on the spread of radical Islam and media manipulation. The site is perhaps most famous for its role in taking down Dan Rather by breaking, along with other blogs, the CBS memo scandal during the 2004 presidential election. Earlier this week, he sat down for a brief Q&A. Excerpts follow:

Q: What coverage on LGF are you must proud of? What’s been your biggest story?

CJ: Well, definitely the fake CBS memos; I think it had a real effect on the 2004 election. Also the Photoshopped images from Lebanon; that LGF scoop started a whole discussion about the veracity of media reporting from the region that was long overdue.

Q: Why’d you start LGF?

CJ: LGF started as a techie blog, because I wanted to experiment with the blogging software. It took a pretty radical change in direction on 9/11. Now the purpose is to expose and shed light on the forces and ideologies that led to that attack, and that are still very active in the world.

Q: Who else works with you on the blog?

CJ: At present, the only staff at LGF is yours truly. I write all the front page posts, and also develop and maintain the software that produces the site. (I don't use any of the off-the-shelf blog applications-- it's all custom built.)