Posted on 05/06/2002 2:56:41 AM PDT by kattracks
ne vote here in favor of the blogging revolution. Bloggers (from the words "Web log") write personal online diaries and commentaries. The best bloggers weigh in on social and political issues, report nuggets of information that the national media miss or suppress and provide links to other bloggers with something sharp to say.
Subjects the mainstream press is skittish about, like the link between abortion and breast cancer or the mini-race riot in Cincinnati three weeks ago, tend to show up in the blogging world.
Bloggers are emerging as a check against the mainstream press and as a prime source of news and commentary among the young.
A minor example of the culture in action: The blogging corps got wind of a poll sponsored by the Council on American Islamic Relations allegedly showing that 94% of those surveyed thought Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon should be put on trial for war crimes. By linking quickly to one another's Web sites, the bloggers brought many other voters into the poll and reversed the numbers. At the end, 94% opposed the idea of trying Sharon.
The first commandment of blogdom is that anyone can become a pundit. Nobody is in charge. Bloggers can say anything they want to and get their message out with blinding speed. This is unsettling to us lumbering print guys. Six or seven times I had to abandon a column because some blogger beat me to it.
The fairness of blogworld is impressive. Glenn Reynolds, a University of Tennessee law professor whose InstaPundit site is the 800-pound gorilla of the blogging culture, is strongly pro-cloning. But he recently provided links to a series of mostly anti-cloning Christian sites so readers could judge for themselves.
Political bloggers are mostly right of center, either conservative or libertarian. The conventional wisdom is that the strong rightward tilt is a reaction against the mandatory liberalism of the modern newsroom. But nobody knows for sure.
Out of blogger-induced fairness, I hereby recommend two liberal sites. One is the site of Tom Tomorrow, the cartoonist and commentator. He's fair, funny and a friend. The Daily Howler is a useful check on conservative excesses, though sometimes over the top. Be sure to read: "The American way of life has been challenged. But whose side is John Leo on?"
In two cases, bloggers have prepared the way for new newspapers in major cities. Smarter Times, a running account of the sins and omissions of The New York Times, led to the founding of the Sun, the city's new conservative daily paper. A similar path is being followed in Los Angeles, where LAexaminer.com regularly snipes at the Los Angeles Times.
Check in with blogworld. It's worth your time.
Correction: A recent column inaccurately said CNN gave no coverage to two teenagers blown up by a suicide bomber in Israel in February. CNN covered the killings on cable and on its Web site. My apologies.
E-mail: johnleo@usnews.com
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