The Virginian-Pilot has acknowledged the role of Virginia’s blogosphere in reshaping Virginia politics, most recently in elevating Sen. George Allen’s “macaca” gaff into a full-fledged media feeding frenzy. The editorial also noted that politicians have begun courting bloggers — a trend made manifest by the appearance of high-profile elected officials at the recent blogger conference in Martinsville. (As a side note, Gov. Timothy M. Kaine is holding a “press” conference with bloggers later this week.)
“Judging by their traffic and their traction,” the editorial opines, “Virginia’s blogs are only going to grow in influence, a trend more than a few lament as they point out the blogosphere’s penchant for fierce partisanship and fact-free opinionizing.”
(Another side note: “Fierce partisanship”… “Fact-free opinionizing”… sounds like my critique of the the Pilot’s editorials about transportation and land use!)
But the Pilot concludes with a sound observation: “Judging the blogosphere by its worst members is like judging The New York Times by Jayson Blair, a foolish oversimplification. Over time, blogs will be judged by readers. Those who keep their facts straight and their analysis honest will thrive, while others will wither into obscurity. In the meantime, the more voices that are part of Virginia’s debates, the better off we all are.”
