Blogs flex Internet muscles

The Internet strikes again. This week's blogger-prompted resignation of CNN top executive Eason Jordan implies the Internet has become a source for information as influential as traditional news media.

"The ease and cheapness of access puts Internet news on a different level from traditional news," said Robin Koerner, co-founder of www.WatchingAmerica.com, which gathers news and editorials about America from newspapers around the world. It falls in the category of sites like www.Drudgereport.com or www.Buzzflash.com, which package relevant headlines into one, easily read page.

"It's the convenience factor," Koerner said.

Bloggers - a blurring of the moniker "Weblog" - as well as forums, chatrooms and alternative media are flourishing on the Internet. These sites often insert topics into mainstream discussion which traditional media choose to ignore.

Bloggers were the first to pick up Jordan's remarks about soldiers targeting journalists, and doubts about Dan Rather's story on President Bush's National Guard record. Until then, it was business as usual at radio, TV and newspaper outlets.

About 136 million Americans use the Internet each month, according to Nielsen/Netratings. About half of them view news while on the Web and one fifth get their news exclusively on the Internet, according to a study from the nonprofit Pew Internet & American Life Project.

<h4>Crossing boundaries</h4>

Perhaps one reason the Internet is gaining ground is it can instantly cross geographical, cultural and language boundaries. WatchingAmerica.com has translation technology built directly into the site, making articles in foreign languages available in English at one click.

"This is the stuff of science fiction," said Koerner, who is based in Southern California. "You can read what Arabs are saying about America to each other, in Arabic, faster than you can turn on CNN."

The Tribune's Web site, www.tahoedailytribune.com, in one month receives 280,000 page views from 40,000 unique computers, called "unique visitors."

There are only 30,000 residents in South Lake Tahoe, and about 4,000 businesses, which means thousands of people are reading news about South Shore from elsewhere, something they couldn't do until 1995 - when the Web site was created. Geographical limits on reading news about Tahoe disappeared.

Tahoe.com, the Tribune's mother site, receives 420,000 page views from 100,000 unique computers.

"And these unique visitors are undercounted," said Kirk Caraway, who runs Tahoe.com and its offspring sites, "because about 20 percent of computers don't allow cookies (which report information back to Web sites about user visits)."

Ad revenues add up with every click of the mouse. According to the rates posted on www.intermarkets.net, advertisers are charged $3 per thousand impressions for banner ads.

In one month, Drudgereport.com receives around 255 million visits, possibly adding up to over $1 million in ad money per year. Craigslist, an online community page, receives 1 billion visits a month.

Koerner believes Internet media is thriving because it is not as constrained by advertiser interests as traditional media.

"No institutional person operates against their own financial interest," Koerner said. "And large corporate media have in common that they have a legal obligation to make a profit for their shareholders. To do that they need to provide a suitable context for advertisers.

"Internet media is not as constrained in that way. Right now it is not."

Blogs of Note <h3>Top 10 blogs in the world:</h3> 1. BoingBoing.net 2. Instapundit.com 3. Photologs and MoBlogs on Buzznet.com 4. Davenetics.com 5. Gizmodo.com 6. Penny-Arcade.com 7. DailyKos.com 8. eBaumsWorld.com 9. Eschaton, located at atrios2002.blogspot.com 10. AndrewSullivan.com <i>Source: Technorati.com</i> <h3>More big ones:</h3> Watchingwashington.blogspot.com Clubforgrowth.org/blog Dearkitty.modblog.com Metafilter.com - anyone can contribute to this community Web log DAOUReport.com - a political blog of left and right views <h3>And miscellaneous:</h3> Tahoeblog.com - A personal log of Tahoe snow conditions Jeremy.zawodny.com/blog/ - Zawodny wrote a log asking why "Keep Tahoe Blue" stickers always appear on SUVs Tsunamihelp.blogspot.com - News and information about resources, aid, donations and volunteer efforts <h3>Finding blogs</h3> To find a blog on a subject of interest to you, start with searching the Web for "blog" plus that subject.