Hats Off to WND

By Joseph Ashby

Van Jones’ ouster has come on the heals of some truly magnificent reporting. Radio and TV host Glenn Beck has received a lot of credit for putting the pressure on the Obama Administration to cut Jones loose. We are all grateful to Beck for using his megaphone to take on such an important issue.

What many may not know is that Aaron Klein of WorldNetDaily.com is responsible for much of the original reporting on the now former Green Jobs Czar. A WND blog alert email was sent out today highlighting Klein’s work:

In April, Aaron Klein, Jerusalem bureau chief for WND.com, broke the first major story on Jones who was identified as a self-described radical communist and "rowdy black nationalist" who said his environmental activism was actually a means to fight for racial and class "justice."

While talk radio and cable television picked up WND's reporting and increased the pressure on the administration to cut Jones loose, there was no significant coverage of the scandal by the major U.S. news media until September.

Jones’ resignation represents a sea change in media. Decades ago, it would have been impossible to oust an administration official without major coverage voluntarily carried out by the network and print media. In more recent times, the new media has been able to pressure mainstream sources into covering a story which otherwise would have been ignored. The Van Jones story is the first situation where a high ranking political official was forced to resign without any pressure from major print newspapers or network TV coverage.

In other words, the new media is a self-sustaining force with the power to reach the highest levels of power.

Our hats are off to World Net Daily and Aaron Klein for their great work.

Hat Tip: Larrey Anderson