Friday, June 06, 2003

The Big Four in 2004 High Hewitt writes in the weekly Standard alleging that the big four (Instapundit, Andrew Sullivan, Mickey Kaus and The Volokh Conspiracy) are in position to change the political landscape of the 04 election. My first take is that this was a conservative attack on blogging in preparation for the 04 cycle.  My second take is this is an acknowledgement of the potential power of the new medium. I say potential because it hasn't happened yet.  I am still skeptical of all the hype surrounding the effect of blogging on the media. But, Hewitt makes a couple of thought provoking statements: If the web seizes on a story, however, it is a huge signal to editors and assignment desks to pay attention. The media dinosaurs can ignore these currents in opinion-making, of course, but not for long. It is crazy to try and develop a metaphor for the new politics--a politics of a 24/7 news cycle, cable land, talk radio, FreeRepublic.com, and DemocraticUnderground.com, and thousands of blogs-- but the opening scene from "Gangs of New York" comes to mind. Campaigns would be well-advised to designate a team just to keep track of and respond to web-generated stories and opinion, starting with the Big Four. I know Doc Searls is busy defending blogging on other fronts, but I can imagine he might have something to say about Hewitt's warnings.  Especially given his interest in Howard Dean and his blog. 5:56:02 PM