Thankyou Josh Miller for what you're doing. It's a terrific service and it's certainly time for a fifth estate (media manned/womanned by real people not talking, paid well heads). You deserve the Polk award.
My question was how best to publicize my blog: Political Underwear Monthly"? Of course you might want to take a look at it. It's at www.montynews.com.

I agree with smidely above (and was on hold before the segment ended - oh well): Newspapers large and small are dying. Without newspapers, where will all these readers submitting stories get their info? And, blogs are getting this newspaper info for free, thus killing the very source they need!

Through critiquing news from the MCM, several bloggers expanded their portfolio to include breaking news stories based on research of original documents (usually those available on the web) and pulling together many different reports from all over the country and the world.

The Downing Street Memos is an example of how a blog arises to meet a special need. When the MCM did not cover the reports in foreign newspapers, especially British papers, of the Downing Street Memos, blogs developed which followed the story in great detail, crated timelines, noted how coverage in the US differed and the import of that.

Kind of niche blogs. Some of those become reference sites when a particular story is covered as well as possible; some grow into ongoing research and investigative sites.

It's a huge blog world out there, with something for just about everyone. Trememdous resources, and also great misinformation. Readers need to know their bloggers, do some comparative reading, and, thus, the credibiity of the blogger is paramount to the reader.

Blogs for the most part are a second level of news: 1) They aggregate in some cases, with minor indications of what the gist of an article is, occasionally criticize; 2) they go into analysis of reports, often bringing together in one post the takes of several different reporters and sources, pointing out differences in fact and analysis; 3) they do mostly analysis; and, one of the huge reasons many bloggers began blogging in the first place, 4) they offer critiques and criticism of the Mainstream Corporate Media (now adding same of other bloggers).

Cont'd.

Why didn't TPM break Sinbad's story on Clinton and Bosnia? I didn't really get what happened there.

Talking Points does great work and crowd sourcing is a very exciting new form of journalism, but it begs a certain labor issue. Aren't your readers/contributers just unpaid reporters? Do they get a cut of advertising revenue? How is this not a news publication that benefits from amateur reporters without paying them?

Could he exist w/out newspapers doing the heavy lifting? Or alternatively putting bloggers' very rare scoops/original reporting into larger perspective?

Greg Sargent of Horse's Mouth has been on hiatus from TPM for a "very brief" time in order to rework his blog.

But it's now been just over a month (last post 3/6/08) for the announcement of shutting down.

Prior to that he had been covering in some depth the anti-Hillary bias in much of the old and new media.

Please ask Josh Marshall when and if Greg Sargent will be returning? Does he still see a place for Horse's Mouth if it criticizes bloggers as well as MCMers (members of the Mainstream Corporate Media)? Including one of the TPM bloggers....

Readers of Horse's Mouth very much concerned about Greg Sargent's health and hope for his quick return.

bloggers are "edited" when the stories go mainstream.

Hi Josh. Big fan.

Talk about what crimes the USAs who weren't fired have committed.

This story supports the idea the media has become too small and ineffective.

The US needs more feet on the ground and people investigating government corruption.

Bloggers are not good enough and can be harmful.

They have no standards albeit the NEW TIMES has had it's fair share of scandel bloggers do not have editors or any other gate keeps preventing false stories and claims.