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August 18, 2005
Blogging and the future of politics
I realize not everyone cares what papers are in those tacky bins on the city sidewalks, and to people who don't, I'll apologize for my last post. Who cares what New Yorkers are reading, aye? For those people I offer Hugh Hewitt's piece today for the Weekly Standard talking about the blogosphere's effect on political debate and such. Among the thought-provoking comments:
As the daily information avalanche keeps getting bigger and bigger, and the data mountains higher and higher, the need for sherpas increases. No one person can keep on top of it all, but the technology Power Line News harnesses puts the new media's best content in a compact and easy-to-use display--basically mirroring the function RealClearPolitics performs for old media. Reliable aggregation of content is a huge development, one which further weakens the mainstream media.
Hewitt also says blogging has pulled Democrats leftward, which is probably a more significant point, and I'd guess he's right. It's exposed much of the un-intellectual left as a fraud and in the process, I think, fed that Deaniac anger. In terms of reasoned debate, there's simply no comparison between the most popular lefty blogs (Kos, Crooks & Liars and Kos alum Atrios with their conservative counterparts: Instapundit, Michelle Malkin and Powerline)(traffic stats here). I realize I'm making generalizations but this is only the beginning. Others - for example, Markos is incredibly popular but also incredibly immature, and one can't dismiss this altogether. Also compare comments at Free Republic with those at the Democratic Undergound. Every side has its shills and maniacs, but the left certainly seems to be tipping the scales.
Posted by bill at August 18, 2005 01:25 PM
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