Some of the best coverage of the blogosphere in the mainstream press is coming from Chris Seper of the Cleveland Plain Dealer. A blogger himself, Chris brings a sophistication and depth to his blog coverage that comes from living the life as opposed to dipping into the scene now and then because "we gotta have a blog story, people!" as is more typical.
Neither fawning nor dismissive, Chris turned in an excellent report on the volatile state of political blogs:
- The rising influence of online journals known as blogs has, along with online fund-raising, been one of the most fundamental, long-term changes in this year's presidential election.
Politicians and the media are regularly tuning in to read these volatile Web-based journals, which instead of being fair and balanced zealously monitor the news, spout opinion and rumor, and always report things from the bloggers' perspective.
Today the readership of some blogs is larger than that of major daily newspapers. And the influence they're having now is what they've craved all along.
"There's no question about it: [Blogs] are a key part of the political media," said Eric Olsen, Webmaster of the Aurora-based Blogcritics.org, which hosts opinions on everything from music to politics.
....Weblogs were the first to report that documents used in a CBS exposé about President Bush's military service appeared to be fake. Rathergate, as bloggers dubbed it, forced CBS and its news anchor Dan Rather to admit that the documents apparently were bogus..
There have been smaller victories as well. Bloggers called out Fox News last week for a story that included Kerry quotes fabricated by a Fox staff member. They also scolded CNN for allowing a Republican activist to sit on a panel for undecided voters discussing the debates.
For Tuesday's debate of vice presidential candidates at Case Western Reserve University, a handful of authors were "liveblogging" the event - literally publishing commentary about the debate as it happened.
....Bloggers are a big part of this year's other great phenomenon: online fund-raising. Web-based donations have allowed politicians to better harness small donors who will give less than $200, according to an online fund-raising primer published by George Washington University.
Web logs like Dailykos.com have raised more than $350,000 for a dozen congressional candidates, including Ohio Democrat Jeff Seemann, who is running in a Canton-area district and got $24,000 from the blog.
Article comments
1 - Eric Olsen
just gave Jeff a call to wish him good luck - he started from nowhere and has made great strides against a 30-year incumbent, an amazing story
2 - Jason Koulouras
Thanks for this one Eric - good link and kudos for you on being cited
Cheers
3 - Hope
Way to go for being cited, Eric. By so being, you are adding a professional sheen to blogland.
Has anyone determined who has been the most successful at monetizing his or her blog? Google is offering an advertising program. What is the buzz on that? Who is making money from blogs and how? I have seen some helpful advice-filled articles but little hard data on income generation. I am totally mercenary.
In my first weeks here in blogland I have been surprised by the number of personal diaries versus quasijournalistic sites.
Hope
http://humorhangout.blogspot.com/
4 - Claire Robinson
Politicians ARE, in fact, paying much more attention to political bloggerss to take the temperature of the voting public. This was an excellent read, Eric, and spot on! Good luck to Jeff in his endeavors, and thank you for the good links!
Claire
5 - Lono
blogging for money? a ha ha ha ha ha ha. It's more what I do because
1) I can't sleep
2) I don't own a newspaper, with which I could express my outrage more freely (and lucratively)
Oh well, I am decently content with my 12 hits a day... for now.
Take Care,
Lono - managing editor and CEO 'I am Correct'
www.iamcorrect.blogspot.com
6 - Eric Olsen
Thanks for the input all, much appreciated! Jeff is actually going to be in our next debate, which will be very exciting.
And yes, I am always happy to quote myself being quoted - one of my favorite self-referential activities.
Blogs and money: Google AdSense seems to be working very well for those who can use it, but their acceptance policy is very restrictive: no "abusive" language, we're WAY out of the running.
Revenue comes from advertising, affiliate programs, the success of both being directly related to traffic. We are moving in the right direction.
7 - Hope
Lono--five ha's would have sufficed.
I'd kill for 12 hits a day.
I like the unabashed arrogance of your site. No pussyfooting with modesty for you. Go with that.
Thanks for the info, Eric. You always prove yourself a fount of helpful info for those of new to Blogland. You are a gentleman.
Hope
http://humorhangout.blogspot.com/
8 - Hal Pawluk
Hope, To build traffic, use this site more.
Post reasonably frequently, and always include an HTML link to your site in posts (not comments, although I see I'm doing that :-)
It can help quite a bit.
One thing I do, for instance, is add a [Print] link which takes a clicker to a printable version of the item on my site (useful with some of the longer posts).
I also use target="_blank" so the links open in a new window (as above).
9 - Eric Olsen
thanks Hope, you are kind, and good advice Hal - we want everyone to get good traffic and be happy.
10 - Anita Campbell
Congrats to you, Eric, and also to Chris.
You both do an outstanding job, with blogs and with mainstream press articles. We're lucky to have you in Cleveland.
11 - Eric Olsen
thanks Anita, very much appreciated - your input is invaluable!
12 - Jon
Nice stuff.
13 - Eric Olsen
thanks