Friday, September 09, 2005

I Get It: Why Blogs Are So Cool
I wasn't sure until this morning why blogs are so cool and why journalists can't stop talking about them. The reason is simple. They are making more bottom-up journalism possible.

Consider all the stories around Katrina - like Michael Brown's resume or the bombing of the levees. Each of these started off as rumors - some better-researched than others. But they all gather steam as they move up the blogosphere food-chain, finally breaking into mainstream media.

How's it different? In the past, there was no quick, simple, organized way for rumors to break into mainstream media. Now we do.

Question is how long it will last. The mass-media where the stories actually become influential and effective are still controlled by folks with serious vested interest. The next level down - the top blogs - are also mostly controlled by vested interests (e.g. DailyKos is a Democratic Party shill, and DrudgeReport, Instapundit work for the Republicans). We still have BoingBoing, which seems independent.

But like most good things, this rumor-processor (the renovated rumor-mill) won't get much better before it gets worse.


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