But the presentation of the particular news broadcast will be the factor that shapes the public opinion.

The fund raising is so spectacular from the blogosphere because we represent a concentrated constituency with a passion for politics. That’s why I believe the blog world is less effect on a neighbor who isn’t a blog reader … but is an effect on the beltway… both the elected ones and their media.

So I guess we are saying the same things. And perhaps, you have made it much clearer, and allowed for an indirect influence via the media’s attentions. Good added perspective. Thank you.

In summary, it would appear that the influence of the blogosphere wields less influence over fellow citizens, but certainly commands the attention the elected elitists themselves. They use blogs as an unofficial pulse of the nation, as well as a piggy bank for campaigns.

Blogs do and they don’t “wield[] less influence over fellow citizens”: directly, citizens influenced by reading blogs, they don’t; indirectly, by blogs being the pre-producers of MSM news, they do.

Almost every year Josh Marshall and Kos have to post a warning on there sites to MSM news organizations they if they take information without crediting the source they might give them a ‘bloody nose’.

Several bloggers have even made significant headway into gaining access to the MSM. Malkin, Marshall, Cole, Kos, Sullivan and many more others now are “regulars” on MSM cable news.

BBC news, CNN, and MSNBC after 4pm usually check the bloggers daily to see what the day’s hot conversations are. The Daily Show, Colbert, Olbermann, Abrams, Blitzer, obviously take extremely heavily from progressive blogs–right up to the last minute before airing and sometimes during their programming.

Finally, because fundraising is so prolific on liberal/progressive blogs it has provided them direct access to privileged information from political insiders; that, coupled with the speed of the internet, has made blogs essential tools for the MSM, if they want to be ahead of their competition.

know; I did this song before, but Tony Snow’s flute brings a different perspective…

I really need to either start doing a weekend Scramble or start cutting back on the 200+-feed feed reader; this one’s going to be scattersho…

That says something on two levels:

A. Our desire to document as widely as possible every point we are trying to make

and

B. Our generosity in citing other conservative sources.

MataH: We must be synched to the same moon phase or something (did you notice it last night?) because I was thinking along these same lines.

However, I was more curious to find out just WHO our Flopping Aces readers are and get a better picture of that small slice of our blog world (I detest the phrase blogosphere).

Perhaps we can find a way to do a survey of Flopping Aces readers that wouldn’t violate their privacy.

I think the influence of poliblogs in today’s politics is obvious. I notice it in material that pops up on TV news, that I don’t think would have otherwise found a voice, if not for having been abuzz in the blogosphere. Little Green Footballs and the Fauxtography episode comes to mind. Stuff like that only got exposed and stories broken because of bloggers like Charles Johnson.

The MSM doesn’t police itself for media bias; alternative media does, and I think that’s good for MSM.

Looking at the categories here at FA, Saddam Documents, al-Qaeda/Iraq connections, I’d be largely in the dark on Senate Select Committee Intell Reports, Iraqi Perspective Project, etc. Where has the LATimes ever covered, extensively and accurately, what are in those reports?

It’s possible, though, that most people are not reading blogs, though. I personally can’t think of any friends of mine who follow a single political blog- even those into politics. I think it is still a recent phenomenon, along with the growth of such sites as YouTube, and the influence on politics there. It makes it a strange time to be a politician where every little thing you say and do will and can be scrutinized and macaca’d against you.

I think the influence of poliblogs will continue to grow in influence and readership as more and more people understand how blogs work and how to discern credibility.