Not So Long Ago

[Annie]

Links to bloggers would get a 'it's a blogger, so what?' response. Times are changing, rapidly. Links at site of first:

http://beltwayblogroll.nationaljournal.com/archives/2007/07/blog_power_on_d.php

July 09, 2007
BELTWAY BLOGROLL
Blog Power On Display In The Annals Of Congress

A recent report on the blogging revolution in government that included a handful of footnotes to my work here reminded me that I hadn't searched the Congressional Record for blog references lately.

When I finally did a search last week on references within the first six months of this year, I was surprised by how often blogs are making it into the annals of Congress these days. Several of the references, including multiple ones by Republican Rep. Steve King of Iowa, laud blogs for their ability to serve as government watchdogs. Lawmakers also have quoted blogs to emphasize their viewpoints about the Iraq war.

Blogs most recently garnered attention when House Republicans last month criticized "pork" spending earmarks in appropriations bills and forced the Democratic leadership to change its stance on the issue. Porkbusters, a blog-inspired group whose primary mission is to curtail earmarks, created enough of a stir during debate about the fiscal 2008 homeland security bill to earn a plug on the House floor.

During floor debate on the bill, Rep. Doug Lamborn, R-Colo., quoted part of a Porkbusters petition offering to help Congress evaluate earmark requests. "[V]olunteers are now coming forward, and the American people are standing ready and they will be willing to help," Lamborn said...

http://www.townhall.com/columnists/BruceBartlett/2007/07/10/changing_world_of_commentary

Changing World of Commentary
By Bruce Bartlett
Tuesday, July 10, 2007

About 12 years ago, I got a call from Tom Bray, then editorial page editor of the Detroit News. I had known him since the early 1980s, when he was an editorial page editor of The Wall Street Journal, where I had written many articles. Tom asked me if I would be interested in writing a column for the News, and I agreed. Subsequently, I offered my column to The Washington Times, and eventually it was picked up by Creators Syndicate for national distribution.

This is the last of those columns. The world has changed a lot since 1995, and I've decided that there are better ways for me to express myself. The Internet, in particular, has enormously changed the ability to get a message out -- one is no longer dependent on the traditional media, such as newspapers, for that purpose. Today, anyone with a computer and a modem can start a blog and, for all intents and purposes, be a columnist.

In the not-too-distant past, this was impossible. If you didn't write for a newspaper, it was very hard to get out commentary on topical subjects in a timely manner. But if you were any good, it wasn't too difficult to make a pretty nice living as a columnist because there were many newspapers and competition raised the value of those columnists that readers would follow from one paper to another.

...