Quick thought--Watching the Watchdogs

With the proliferation of blogs reaching astronomical levels, the media pendulum continues to swing back and forth on their utility. From the BBC, "Weblogs are sometimes criticised for being the self-obsessed ramblings of people who have little to say and too much time on their hands in which to do it." Perhaps.

Perhaps the media's a bit paranoid. Webloggers have tremendous influence from fueling the Bush air national guard debate to Kerry's haircuts. They unmercilessly criticize the media for reporting too liberally, too conservatively, too little, or in the case of a former president's funeral, too much.

Reflecting on a fellow bloggers attack on the LA Times's recent presidential poll, it dawned on me: no matter whether I support a particular blogger's viewpoint or not(this case I didn't), in the end, I support the process. Bloggers are the new watchdogs of a media, powerful in their own right in formulating public opinion and molding public policy, which has long gone unquestioned and unchallenged.

In essence, bloggers take the letters and comments section of the op/ed pages to an all new level, aloft on the information superhighway. They keep the media in check, whatever the issue. It is here where they are most effective and should be lauded. As watchdogs of the so-called fourth branch of government, bloggers fulfill a invaluable public purpose and here's one person who hopes they'll grow further.

I just hope the latest fad doesn't fade as quickly as it appeared. Maybe soon we'll be coined as the new fifth branch of government. Maybe by then we'll need our own watchdog--watchdog of the watchdog of the watchdog.

Blog out.

[UPDATE: just found that TIME is running a big spread on bloggers this week.]