Judy and the Dream of Horses

Judy Woodruff from CNN can't decide. Are blogs about opinion or reporting?

Judy, along with a repentant Jon Klien (who once famously dismissed bloggers as kooks in pajamas) is giving the blogosphere four minutes each day. They may be reacting to MSNBC's Coast-to-Coast, which already tracks blog activity. But it's getting harder to care.

And they're still missing the point. Blogs do offer opinion, and increasing amounts of reporting - but the real function is a new twist on the editorial process. Blogs in their aggregate activity, through the sum total of links and citations, are a decentralized way to elevate stories. Important items won't be ignored, and bogus information is stripped back to reveal the truth, sooner or later - but probably sooner. Experts are online 24/7, and they can chime in the debate to increase the validity of differing stories.

By it's decentralized nature, this process of editorial control and news elevation is essentially a nonpartisan process. Jeff Gannon, meet Dan Rather. You're both fraudulent pimps.

So Judy, where does that leave you? You should be worried - but for the right reasons.

VIA INSAPUNDIT