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<h2 id="history">History</h2> <p>Scott Johnson and John Hinderaker had been actively publishing <a href="/facts/Op-ed/yHuuJoQD">op-eds</a>, magazine articles and research articles for about a decade. On the weekend of Memorial Day, 2002, Hinderaker invited Johnson to start publishing on the Power Line site he had recently created. Johnson credited <a href="/facts/Hugh_Hewitt/RwctjGdn">Hugh Hewitt</a>'s radio broacasts as being the "first big break and recognition" the site received.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:10" href="#fn:10"><sup>10</sup></a> </p><p>In 2004, Power Line was named <i><a href="/facts/Time_(magazine)/N4FXc99l">Time</a></i> magazine's first-ever "Blog of the Year".<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:11" href="#fn:11"><sup>11</sup></a> When <a href="/facts/AOL/MAbT38QS">AOL</a> added blogs to their news website in 2007, Power Line was one of the five blogs included.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:12" href="#fn:12"><sup>12</sup></a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:13" href="#fn:13"><sup>13</sup></a> A 2007 memo from the <a href="/facts/National_Republican_Senatorial_Committee/jlqXF0jf">National Republican Senatorial Committee</a> described Power Line as one of the five best-read national conservative blogs.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:14" href="#fn:14"><sup>14</sup></a> That same year, <i><a href="/facts/Forbes/lyULpGhW">Forbes</a></i> recognised Hinderaker as the #19th "biggest and brightest star on the web" on the strength of Powerline's work on Rathergate.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:15" href="#fn:15"><sup>15</sup></a> </p><p>In 2009, CBS News described Powerline as "a prominent conservative blog."<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:16" href="#fn:16"><sup>16</sup></a> In 2014, CBS News reported the site had half a million readers and eight million page views.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:17" href="#fn:17"><sup>17</sup></a> </p> <h2 id="contributors">Contributors</h2> <p>The main contributors to Power Line are John H. Hinderaker, Scott W. Johnson, <a href="/facts/Steven_F._Hayward/94eaGN1F">Steven F. Hayward</a>, and Lloyd Billingsley.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:18" href="#fn:18"><sup>18</sup></a> Susan Vass, writing under the name "Ammo Grrrll", contributes a humor column to the site every Friday.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:19" href="#fn:19"><sup>19</sup></a> </p> <h2 id="rathergate">Rathergate</h2> <p class="note">See also: <a href="/facts/Killian_documents_authenticity_issues/qY65fn2T">Killian documents authenticity issues</a></p> <p>Power Line gained widespread recognition during the 2004 <a href="/facts/Killian_documents_controversy/C2C7k8na">Killian documents controversy</a> relating to a CBS report on George W. Bush's service in the <a href="/facts/Texas_Air_National_Guard/juLXN6Wk">Texas Air National Guard</a>, starting with a post entitled "The Sixty-First Minute";<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:20" href="#fn:20"><sup>20</sup></a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:21" href="#fn:21"><sup>21</sup></a> Powerline is credited with helping break the story.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:22" href="#fn:22"><sup>22</sup></a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:23" href="#fn:23"><sup>23</sup></a> Conservatives (including Power Line, <a href="/facts/National_Review/IKotTv5U">National Review Online</a> and <a href="/facts/Little_Green_Footballs/VEAbKEDd">Little Green Footballs</a>) referred to the controversy as "Rathergate".<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:24" href="#fn:24"><sup>24</sup></a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:25" href="#fn:25"><sup>25</sup></a> The blogs and their readers questioned the authenticity of the documents, presenting hints of supposed forgery. After noting that the alleged documents used a <a href="/facts/Typeface/It41hIjl">proportional font</a>, Power Line helped advance the story, triggering coverage by mainstream media outlets.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:26" href="#fn:26"><sup>26</sup></a> Dan Rather apologized and resigned from the <a href="/facts/CBS/BhMsVoej">CBS</a> <a href="/facts/News_presenter/QfSyKYf5">anchor</a> chair.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:27" href="#fn:27"><sup>27</sup></a> </p> <h2 id="see-also">See also</h2> <ul><li><a href="/facts/Alternative_media_(U.S._political_right)/eF6DGSbW">Alternative media (U.S. political right)</a></li></ul> <h2 id="external-links">External links</h2> <ul><li><a href="https://powerlineblog.com">Official website</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.loc.gov/item/lcwaN0006779/">Library of Congress Web Archive for Powerline</a></li></ul> <h2 id="references">References</h2> <ol> <li id="fn:1"><p>TOBIN HARSHAW (November 6, 2009). "Are Democrats, Too, Facing a Civil War?". The New York Times. Retrieved April 16, 2021. And not from conservative bloggers, either. John Hinderaker of Powerline thinks a rebellion on the fringe may hurt centrist Democrats <a href="https://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/11/06/weekend-opinionator-are-democrats-too-facing-a-civil-war/" target="_blank">https://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/11/06/weekend-opinionator-are-democrats-too-facing-a-civil-war/</a> <a href="#fnref:1" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:2"><p>Jason Cohen (December 14, 2011). "Holder Holds the Voting Line at LBJ Library". Texas Monthly. Retrieved April 16, 2021. John Hinderaker at the conservative blog Powerline also enjoyed the symbolism of Holder speaking at the LBJ Library, albeit for very different reasons: "Lyndon Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act in 1965—Holder's intended reference—but he is also associated with voter fraud." <a href="https://www.texasmonthly.com/news-politics/holder-holds-the-voting-line-at-lbj-library/" target="_blank">https://www.texasmonthly.com/news-politics/holder-holds-the-voting-line-at-lbj-library/</a> <a href="#fnref:2" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:3"><p>CHRISTOPHER BEAM (April 17, 2007). "The Mourning After". Slate. Retrieved April 16, 2021. Conservative John Hinderaker at Power Line Blog argues that normally there's "nothing wrong" <a href="https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2007/04/bloggers-on-the-virginia-tech-shootings.html" target="_blank">https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2007/04/bloggers-on-the-virginia-tech-shootings.html</a> <a href="#fnref:3" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:4"><p>JOHN BOWDEN (March 11, 2021). "CNN's Tapper battles GOP senator over mean tweets". The Hill. Retrieved April 16, 2021. Cornyn tweeted, quoting the right-leaning Powerline blog <a href="https://thehill.com/homenews/media/542815-cnns-tapper-battles-gop-senator-over-mean-tweets" target="_blank">https://thehill.com/homenews/media/542815-cnns-tapper-battles-gop-senator-over-mean-tweets</a> <a href="#fnref:4" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:5"><p>ARI SHAPIRO (October 4, 2005). "Bloggers Fire Away on Miers Nomination". National Public Radio. Retrieved April 16, 2021. ARI SHAPIRO reporting: John Hinderaker spent yesterday criticizing President Bush on the political Web site powerlineblog.com <a href="https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4944181" target="_blank">https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4944181</a> <a href="#fnref:5" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:6"><p>JEFF JACOBY (January 13, 2010). "Harry Reid's racial imbroglio". The Boston Globe. Archived from the original on January 16, 2010. Retrieved April 16, 2021. At PowerLine, a widely-read conservative blog, John Hinderaker <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20100116050702/http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2010/01/13/harry_reids_racial_imbroglio" target="_blank">https://web.archive.org/web/20100116050702/http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2010/01/13/harry_reids_racial_imbroglio</a> <a href="#fnref:6" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:7"><p>"Power Line". Archived from the original on February 11, 2003. <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20030211063242/http://www.powerlineblog.com/" target="_blank">https://web.archive.org/web/20030211063242/http://www.powerlineblog.com/</a> <a href="#fnref:7" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:8"><p>"The Claremont Institute: John H. Hinderaker". Archived from the original on February 7, 2003. <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20030207134745/http://www.claremont.org/about/staff/hinderaker.html" target="_blank">https://web.archive.org/web/20030207134745/http://www.claremont.org/about/staff/hinderaker.html</a> <a href="#fnref:8" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:9"><p>Hugh Hewitt (2005). "1". Blog. Thomas Nelson. p. 6. ISBN 0-7852-1187-X. Retrieved April 16, 2021. Then Powerline, with a prompt from Free Republic and assists from Little Green Footballs and others in the blogosphere brought down Dan Rather <a href="0-7852-1187-X" target="_blank">0-7852-1187-X</a> <a href="#fnref:9" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:10"><p>"Interviews Scott Johnson". Frontline (American TV program). Public Broadcasting Service (PBS). August 26, 2006. Retrieved November 26, 2024. John [Hinderaker] and I had been writing together -- op-eds, articles for magazines, longer research articles -- for about 10 years [...] John dragged me along kicking and screaming. He called me up that Memorial Day weekend of 2002 to say he'd started a site and invited me to contribute to it [...] talk show radio host, Hugh Hewitt [...] the first big break and recognition and kind of shot in the arm <a href="https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/newswar/interviews/johnson.html" target="_blank">https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/newswar/interviews/johnson.html</a> <a href="#fnref:10" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:11"><p>Kher, Unmesh (December 19, 2004). "Blogs Have Their Day". Time. Archived from the original on May 4, 2012. <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120504024550/https://time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1009913,00.html" target="_blank">https://web.archive.org/web/20120504024550/https://time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1009913,00.html</a> <a href="#fnref:11" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:12"><p>"Introducing Power Line AOL | Power Line". February 22, 2007. <a href="https://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2007/02/016571.php" target="_blank">https://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2007/02/016571.php</a> <a href="#fnref:12" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:13"><p>"Power Line Blog | News Bloggers". newsbloggers.aol.com. Archived from the original on March 4, 2007. Retrieved January 11, 2022. <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20070304000738/http://newsbloggers.aol.com/category/power-line/" target="_blank">https://web.archive.org/web/20070304000738/http://newsbloggers.aol.com/category/power-line/</a> <a href="#fnref:13" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:14"><p>Budoff Brown, Carrie (June 13, 2007). "GOP issues rules to avoid Macaca moments". Politico. <a href="http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0607/4483_Page2.html" target="_blank">http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0607/4483_Page2.html</a> <a href="#fnref:14" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:15"><p>Ewalt, David M. (January 24, 2007). "In Pictures: The Web Celeb 25". Forbes. Retrieved April 16, 2021. John Hinderaker is a lawyer and fellow at the conservative Claremont Institute--but his claim to fame is as one of the editors of PowerLine, a right-wing blog best known for its 2004 reporting on "Rathergate." <a href="https://www.forbes.com/2007/01/23/web-celeb-25-tech-media_cx_de_06webceleb_0123top_slides.html?sh=7582e862dbc4" target="_blank">https://www.forbes.com/2007/01/23/web-celeb-25-tech-media_cx_de_06webceleb_0123top_slides.html?sh=7582e862dbc4</a> <a href="#fnref:15" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:16"><p>"How Not To Discredit A Poll". CBS News. June 23, 2009. Retrieved April 16, 2021. John Hinderaker at Power Line, a prominent conservative blog, pushed back <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/how-not-to-discredit-a-poll/" target="_blank">https://www.cbsnews.com/news/how-not-to-discredit-a-poll/</a> <a href="#fnref:16" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:17"><p>Robin Johnson. "Best Local Bloggers In Minnesota". CBS News - CBS Minnesota. Retrieved November 26, 2024. now has an estimated half million readers and make eight million page views every month <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/minnesota/news/best-local-bloggers-in-minnesota/" target="_blank">https://www.cbsnews.com/minnesota/news/best-local-bloggers-in-minnesota/</a> <a href="#fnref:17" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:18"><p>"About Us". Powerline. June 20, 2011. Retrieved June 19, 2021. <a href="https://www.powerlineblog.com/about-us" target="_blank">https://www.powerlineblog.com/about-us</a> <a href="#fnref:18" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:19"><p>"The 2018 CRB Christmas Reading List". Claremont Review of Books. Claremont Institute. December 12, 2018. Retrieved July 25, 2023. Ammo Grrrll Hit the Target: A Humorist's Friday Columns from Power Line. What do four boring middle-aged white guys need to liven up their group blog? A regular Friday humor column from former standup comedienne Susan Vass <a href="https://claremontreviewofbooks.com/digital/the-2018-crb-christmas-reading-list/" target="_blank">https://claremontreviewofbooks.com/digital/the-2018-crb-christmas-reading-list/</a> <a href="#fnref:19" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:20"><p>"Rathergate". Frontline (American TV program). Public Broadcasting Service. 2007. Retrieved April 16, 2021. Of course your most famous bump-up in recognition came during the 2004 election. Can you just lay out the story for us? [...] I called that post "The 61st Minute," <a href="https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/newswar/tags/rathergate.html" target="_blank">https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/newswar/tags/rathergate.html</a> <a href="#fnref:20" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:21"><p>Scott Johnson, Scott (September 9, 2004). "The sixty-first minute". Power Line. <a href="http://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2004/09/007699.php" target="_blank">http://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2004/09/007699.php</a> <a href="#fnref:21" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:22"><p>Jenny Attiyeh (February 3, 2005). "Who's got the power?". The Harvard Gazette. Retrieved April 16, 2021. Powerline, a conservative blog, was one of the first to raise questions about the authenticity of memos on President Bush's National Guard service, broadcast by CBS on "60 Minutes." <a href="https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2005/02/whos-got-the-power/" target="_blank">https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2005/02/whos-got-the-power/</a> <a href="#fnref:22" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:23"><p>John Podhoretz (November 9, 2015). "A Critic's Confession". Washington Examiner. Retrieved April 16, 2021. Scott Johnson of Powerline, the blog that first surfaced the Rathergate fraud, took on the task of debunking Truth <a href="https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/weekly-standard/a-critics-confession" target="_blank">https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/weekly-standard/a-critics-confession</a> <a href="#fnref:23" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:24"><p>DAVID WEIGEL (September 28, 2012). "We'll Always Have Dan Rather". Slate. Retrieved April 16, 2021. Dan Rather going on air with his 2004 story about George W. Bush's service in the Air National Guard, then retracting the story because the key document was forged, then, years later, refusing to apologize. New conservative media—talk radio, blogs, message boards, Drudge—claimed his scalp. One of the key blogs, Powerline, was profiled by Time magazine. "Rathergate" changed the audience's relationship with the media. <a href="https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2012/09/media-research-center-dishonor-awards-why-conservative-media-critics-arent-laughing.html" target="_blank">https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2012/09/media-research-center-dishonor-awards-why-conservative-media-critics-arent-laughing.html</a> <a href="#fnref:24" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:25"><p>"Need to Know: Rather Not". National Review. November 4, 2015. Retrieved April 16, 2021. Mona and Jay welcome Powerline blogger Scott Johnson to discuss the "Rathergate" scandal <a href="https://www.nationalreview.com/podcasts/need-to-know/need-know-rather-not/" target="_blank">https://www.nationalreview.com/podcasts/need-to-know/need-know-rather-not/</a> <a href="#fnref:25" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:26"><p>"Courthouse Shooting in Seattle; Bolton Nomination Before the Senate ... Again; The Hunt of Osama bin Laden Continues; Saddam and the Downing Street Memo in the Blogs". CNN. June 20, 2005. Retrieved April 16, 2021. over now to Powerlineblog.com. This is the three conservative lawyers who blog over here and maintain this site. They were the ones who were widely credited, along with their readers, with really blowing what is called in the blogosphere as Rathergate, those CBS documents last year about Bush's National Guard service. <a href="http://edition.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0506/20/ip.02.html" target="_blank">http://edition.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0506/20/ip.02.html</a> <a href="#fnref:26" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:27"><p>Dan Rather with Digby Diehl, Rather Outspoken,: My Life In the News (Grand Central Publishing/Hachette Book Group, 2013), page 59. <a href="#fnref:27" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> </ol>