Email Bombs and Blowbacks

Christian Science Monitor reporter Tom Regan writes, "The Internet is increasingly being used by special interest groups to try and influence media to change the way they cover a subject, or in some cases not to cover it at all." Regan focuses on the Monitor's on-line polls, which, although not scientific, "encourage deeper involvement in a story and issue." A poll accompanying a story on the U.S. Presbyterian Church's vote to boycott companies doing business with Israel resulted in a "coordinated e-mail bomb campaign." Regan summarizes, "The great concern of those who e-mailed and those who organized the e-mailing: public perception." But "e-mail bomb campaigns are easy to spot, and often easy to ignore. ... Just one thoughtful, well-written e-mail or letter can often have far more impact than the hundreds of cut-and-paste e-mails sent during these attacks."