James W. Sutton

JAMES W. SUTTON HAS TAUGHT AND WRITTEN ABOUT ONLINE MEDIA, SINCE ITS INCEPTION--- AND IS A CONSULTANT TO TWO MEDIA COMPANIES.

Web-only journalism officially graduated to the Beltway's radar screen April 25, when Bill Clinton kicked off the annual White House Correspondents Association dinner by saying: "How come there's no table for Salon Magazine?"

The president has good reason to stump for Salon these days. Thanks to the work of reporters Murray Waas,andJonathan Broder, Kenneth Starr's key Whitewater witness David Hale has suffered a serious blow to his credibility, and the independent counsel himself has been forced to fend off conflict-of-interest questions from the Justice Department.

The Wall Street Journal dismissed Salon and reporters Murray Waas and Jonathan Broder as "an Internet magazine... paid circulation zip." The reporters, Jonathan Broder in particular,have been profiled by Washington Post media reporter Howard Kurtz. "Now I get my calls returned a lot easier," Jonathan Broder said. Broder said colleague Murray Waas long had sources on the story, but he had to develop new ones for himself.