“The year of the political blogger has arrived” the New York Times announced…in the style section.

Don’t laugh. Blogging is on the up and up. Only 35 bloggers were invited to be a part of the 2004 Democratic convention in Boston. This year, 150 blogs were credentialed to cover the circus in Denver.

But it’s not all milk and honey, and the Times captures that to an extent. But what they don’t report is the frantic preparations—often last minute—that we are a part of as an intersection for the grassroots and establishment.

Blogs do not get the silver spoon treatment like the Times and other big boys in the Old Guard. The mainstream guns get hooked up with all kinds of goodies ranging from transcripts, dockets, agendas—all things that exacerbate the murky dependence that already exists between traditional political journalists and the political status quo.

Another thing the Times misses is the notion of online ‘truth to power.’ Bloggers have the luxury and privilege, to quote Chief Justice John Roberts, to “call ‘em as I see ‘em.” Accuracy is priority no.1 for all journalists, and blogs like ProPublica or TalkingPointsMemo or MediaMatters offer vigorous opinion rooted in fact.

So when the then-Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez denies any wrong doing in the Justice Department hiring process, the Times is forced to swallow the pill, you know, giving both sides equal time. Blogs can call that out for what it is. And thus the now famous non-denial denial was born.

Blogs are able to ride the wave of their audiences. The Times reports several blogs who have hit up readers for contributions for a trip to the Democratic National Convention. What the Times misses is the true essence of our audience participation, that the audience is sometimes a network providing access and sources. A lot of leads that resulted in Gonzalez’s resignation came from readers who knew someone who knew someone who knew a federal attorney who was fired for not adhering to Karl Rove’s line.

Maybe a hodgepodge source network is a knock against blogger’s standards. Standards may have to be more in line with Matt Drudge than Louis Lane if the Old Guard is going to be successful on the net in our brave new world.

 

Tags: blogging, new media, new york times, online journalism, print journalism, reporting