blogs: what are they good for?

Blogging of the President is having its first "Blog Burst" tomorrow, on the topic: "the Internet and Politics, what does it mean?' " Here's my contribution, one day early:

"Freedom of the press is guaranteed only to those who own one" --A.J. Liebling

Suddenly, all of us--or at least, many more of us--do own a press, or a bulletin board, or a coffee house, or an unlimited free postage meter.

What have we done with it? We've listened to ourselves talk a lot. We've gotten into petty flame wars, and a few frivolous lawsuits. We've sent millions of posts into the void. If I'm any indication, we've wasted an enormous amount of time.

But we've also done some real organizing. We've helped bring one presidential candidate into the race. We helped another one to exceed all expectations; raise more money from small donors and get more volunteers signed on than ever before. If the latest polls in New Hampshire are any indication, one of these two will probably win the Democratic nomination.

We've got some reporters and commentators who are smarter and more honest than any TV pundit, and they've risen to prominence largely on the basis of merit rather than connections. We've got several places where people listen to professors for fun. We've got other places for honest, valuable discussion, both within one political party and between them.

How much a difference any of this will make in the long run remains to be seen. But in a time when the traditional media are ever more concentrated, ever more obsessed with celebrity trivia, and ever worse at journalism; when campaigns had depended more and more on money from big donors and little else--I think it can only be good.

Comments

[JKC]

I've gotten more out of judicious blog reading lately than I have out of anything CNN has aired. Of course the danger of the Internet is that it can become a bit of an echo chamber if we stick only to the sites we agree with.

I'd like to think my reading of and commenting on Tacitus' and John Cole's sites clear me of that particular charge.... ;)