A Big Hand for Joshua Marshall

The
Grey Lady has been eyeing the Blogosphere for a while, aware that something
significant was going on, and unure
if it should be interested, amused or bothered. Several Times writers,
like Nick Kristof, maintain true, uneditied blogs, where you can get
to know them as people.

An article in tomorrow’s paper profiles Josh
Marshall and TalkingPoints as an
example
of the
influence
of Blogs
on the presidential campaign.

 

 

 

Web journals like Joshua Marshall’s have
become indispensable this campaign season:
They
mobilize
supporters,
question
traditional
media coverage and feed the insatiable appetites of political junkies.

A powerful new networking tool for the politically plugged-in and hangers-on,
the constant online chatter broadens campaign discourse and accelerates
the news cycle.

Such journals, known as blogs, may not be doing much to sway
undecided voters, but analysts say they strongly impact the media, campaign
consultants and activists.

Blogs are collections of links and ideas, usually frequently updated.
Their most recent entries are on top, and readers can generally post
comments. Blogs are increasingly popular, and the software behind
them gets friendlier to use by the day.

His postings, at TalkingPointsMemo.com, are often written in real
time before the event he’s chronicling is even over. Readers get
a sense of
being there.

Dean campaign staffer Allison Stuntz filed frequent pro-Dean dispatches
from a press bus in Iowa, while Kerry’s blogmeister, Dick Bell, made
arrangements for staffers and volunteers in New Hampshire to submit
items — pro-Kerry, of course.

from
the New York Times