I still think you can get a bit too bizarre with how high you set the evidence bar. Have you ever actually SEEN the New York Times offices? Jason has passed my credibility analysis, but I've been reading his stuff, and stuff from people who know him, for a long time. I'm still open for correction, of course.

In point of fact, any popular blog, one seen by many different people, is subjected to scrutiny on many different levels, and not by any "official" organization either. The market works here as well.

There are few people who can construct an artificial personna in any great detail without screwing up, especially in an area observed by a lot of people. Sure, it would be easy to set up a fake identity on the net if I had a web page that got two hits a week. But thousands of hits a week is a lot of eyes on your work.

It's a process. And not infallible. But by and large it works.

Of course, your concerns are not baseless.

This account was my first experience with a false identity on the web, some time ago. The original false web page seems to be long gone. But it was one I followed for a time.