Capitol Hill Blue, the Internet’s oldest political news web site, celebrates its 11th birthday today.
The web site, which went online on October 1, 1994, has outlasted many pretenders and continues to cover politics in a no-nonsense, take-no-prisoners style that has characterized the site since its beginnings as a one-page weekly newsletter on the web.
Thompson, a newspaperman who has spent 40 years covering the political world (including a stint as a political operative), started Blue because he felt too many “news” outlets were just propaganda outlets for political parties.
“Our growth proves we’re giving our readers something they won’t find anywhere else — hard-nosed, non-partisan reporting that exposes the myths of Washington and avoids the partisan hyperbole that dominates too many so-called ‘news’ web sites,” says CHB Publisher Doug Thompson. “We’re proud to have survived 11 years the web, an eternity in Internet life, and we plan to be around for many years to come.”
Created during the many scandals of the Clinton administration, Capitol Hill Blue continues its muckraking style during the Bush presidency by uncovering a high number of duplicitous acts.
Blue was the first to report that the CIA felt it was being pressured to manufacture intelligence to support the Bush administration’s since discredited rationale for the war in Iraq and the first to report the President’s temper and obscene outbursts hidden behind his public demeanor — stories that would not appear in the so-called “mainstream” media until months later.
“Yeah, we’re muckrakers and damn proud of it,” Thompson says. “Journalism needs more muckrakers.”
During the Clinton years, Democrats and liberals castigated Blue for its kick-ass approach to the President’s problems. Now that Republican President Bush has fallen under the same scrutiny, the venom comes from the GOP and conservative side of the aisle.
“One of my city editors once told me that if you piss off both sides you’re doing your job,” Thompson says with a chuckle. “I find that most of the criticism comes from partisan political hacks who wouldn’t know a real story if it walked up and kicked them in the balls.”
