With the mass media’s integrity quickly dissipating, more and more people are switching to the newest and fastest-growing source of instantaneous information: the weblog. When the newspapers are too dull, too biased, too untrustworthy for the consumption of the general news junky, people have begun to post their own thoughts on the news they see or hear of elsewhere. Free from the anachronistic assumption the mass media has some sort of journalistic integrity, new age “bloggers” are able to post what news they see fit, when they see fit, however they see fit, for whatever reasons they see fit and with whatever spin they are inclined to put on a story. In theory, this seems worse than the sad state of affairs we are seeing with the mass media, but in practice bloggers are starting to keep the media in check and even supplement many news sources. Easily checked and published, there is both the room for any number of independent weblogs and also for people to filter the news they read as they see fit. In the early years of cable television, 24-hour news channels revolutionized our need for being constantly informed with the latest news. Weblogs take this a step further: as soon as someone sees the news they can publish it. However, the best part about weblogs is that they provide the room for any reader to add his or her views and speculate on the issues. This jeopardizes the power of media elites to control the airwaves for political purposes. For example, it was due to the immediate response of online bloggers that the scandal revolving around Dan Rather and Bush’s military career was so quickly exposed. Weblogs are a rapidly growing phenomenon used for all purposes from informing employees in office settings and keeping voters up on campaign developments, providing headlines (such as the Drudge Report at drudgereport.com), discussing current events and even cataloguing the asinine events of high school freshmen’s love lives. Students at several of the elite colleges and universities around the United States have taken to starting news blogs with their peers, including Harvard’s School of Law (blogs.law.harvard.edu/redandblue/), Dartmouth College (dartlog.net) and Brown University (browndailysqueal.com). Thanks to these, students are able to freely and instantly discuss current issues and news both with students from their own school and at others. Following Ivy’s lead, Colgate students have set up their own politically-oriented news blog (“Gate Cache”) at http://gatecache.blogspot.com/ . Gate Cache is a nonpartisan forum for instant communication and discussion of political topics, as they pop up in the headlines. Although it is a fledgling publication, it is usually updated once or twice daily as new articles are published. Any viewer is capable of posting comments and participating in discussions without signing up or committing to anything. Gate Cache is looking for authors from any side, regardless of affiliation, experience or ability to commit. As of right now it is admittedly right-leaning based on our present contributors, but we are looking to balance it with anyone interested in bringing this forum off the ground. If anyone is interested in establishing a free online press without oversight, bureaucracy or delay in publishing, do not hesitate to contact me at [email protected] for more information.