Medary.com

In the quadrennial game of Expose the Corruption, played by media big and small where the goal is to expose the shady dealings of those in power and their friends and allies, our early score in the 2009-2013 Game is:

Citizen Journalism 2, Old Media 0.

This is the result of two dramatic goals scored by Andrew Breitbart's Big Government site, scoring on plays featuring ACORN and the National Endowment for the Arts.

Admittedly, both scores were "own goals" by Old Media, who utterly failed to pick up on the obvious threads of the ACORN and the NEA stories in their focused concentration on defending their own. The forces of Citizen Journalism struck quickly, with Breitbart's Big Government blasting both scores through the goal into the national psyche.

Big Media is now forced to play catchup in the game of Expose the Corruption. There are many though who believe their hearts are not in the game. Some would even say they're trying to throw the game entirely.

But if Big Media loses this match, they risk relegation to the minor leagues of information society.

Will they rally to a dramatic come-from-behind win? Is the lead that Citizen Journalism building insurmountable? Or will Big Media pack it in and crawl deeper into the tank?

UPDATE: Yes, I know that the opponents don't actually score an own goal, you do it to yourself. That's the point. Work with me here.

UPDATE II: If you read all of the articles at Big Government and still don't understand what the problem is, then take a look at this general definition of "corruption" and this description of political corruption.

UPDATE III: No, really, go to Big Government and read. Here is a sample of what you'll find:

All of this – particularly the government-sponsored conference call itself – is in blatant violation of the Anti-Lobbying Act (19 U.S. Code §1913), which explicitly provides: “No part of the money appropriated by any enactment of Congress shall, in the absence of express authorization by Congress, be used directly or indirectly to pay for any personal service, advertisement, telegram, telephone, letter, printed or written matter, or other device, intended or designed to influence in any manner a Member of Congress, a jurisdiction, or an official of any government, to favor, adopt, or oppose by vote or otherwise, any legislation, law, ratification, policy, or appropriation, whether before or after the introduction of any bill, measure or resolution proposing such legislation, law, ratification, policy or appropriation …”

Violation of this law, in turn, violates 31 U.S. Code §1352, which bans use of “funds appropriated by any Act [from being] expended by the recipient of a Federal contract, grant, loan, or cooperative agreement to pay any person for influencing or attempting to influence an officer or employee of any agency, a Member of Congress, an officer or employee of Congress, or an employee of a Member of Congress in connection with any Federal action …”

Is violation of Federal Law "just playing politics?" Before you answer that, consider very, very, VERY carefully the ramifications of your answer.

THAT'S what the problem is.

Article bumped to the top for a while.

UPDATE IV: That should be 18 U.S. Code §1913, not 19 U.S. Code §1913 above. Sadly, only civil penalties apply to that particular offense.