>In the past, the lives of folks were documented by those who tried to see the truth and cut through the editorials, for the most part.

Ha. I wish. I really doubt this is the case. For example look at the church who had alot of control on the printed works in circulation.

If books were written about how the Earth is round, those books suffered from censorship in many parts of the world.

In contrast, today, look at an article on ZDnet that mentions both Linux and Bill Gates and the "talk back" reveals hundreds of opinions that range all the way accross the board. While not all of it can be true, at least the ideas are freely expressed and searchable.

Documented exchanges like this are rare in socities where only few held the pen, and fewer had the visibility that mattered. The Internet doesn't completely level the field, but surely the accuracy in which sociology is studied will gain tremendouslly.