New Must-read Blogs
Via Donald Sensing, I see that two interesting new competitors contributors have joined the blogosphere: the Austin Bay Blog which, as one might guess, is authored by columnist Austin Bay, and The Counterterrorism Blog, which is written by a panel of experts in the field: Steven Emerson, Dennis Lormel, Douglas Farah, David Lawrence, Bill West, Evan Kohlmann, Larry Johnson, Monique Gaw, Michael Cutler, Lee Wolosky, and Matthew Levitt.
As Sensing notes, these sites are
… proof of the mainlining of blogging as the new mass media. Before blogging gained its still-congealing reputation as reliable media for disseminating breaking news and issues essays, the men and woman writing this blog would have been frozen out of offering their collaborative efforts and wisdom. There was no medium all of them could have realistically used together. Perhaps a book, but from idea to publication is pretty much a two-year project, many months too long for timeliness, of course. […] Yet almost anyone can blog and be published. I know that being published isn’t the same as being read (widely read, anyway), but that’s true for much article and book writing, too. Yet cream rises to the top in any endeavor. To disseminate your work quickly (heck, immediately) for mass audiences, nothing can touch a blog short of owning a national radio or TV show.
If you have something to say – and CT Blog’s writers definitely will – then blog you must. A lot of highly-credentialed, accomplished men and women figured this fact out in the last three years or so. Many of them are listed on my blogroll in the left column. I think that more and more such folks will come to realize this, and the blogosphere will be immeasurably enriched by it.
Already the blogosphere is an expertise repository. It shall become more so at an accelerating pace.
Writers with something to say, especially those with established reputations, can quickly ascend to the top of the blogosphere. Michelle Malkin went from zero to top ten in a matter of months. My guess is these sites, too, will be highly successful.
It’s great for the reading public. But it sure makes it hard to get on the “A” list, let alone stay there.
Fortunately, I’m quite content with the Z list.
Well, I’m not satisfied with our current status. I demand more widespread recognition of our blog, even if it means some bigger-named bloggers have to drop out of the ‘sphere.
Damnit, this competition thing is just going to have to stop.