As our readers know, we are fresh from a bruising battle with Jim Boyd, assistant editor of the Minneapolis Star Tribune. So John Podhoretz's piece in today's New York Post seems timely to us:

This democratization of the news [through blogs and talk radio] is clearly a good thing, if only because it increases available sources of information in a democracy.

But it isn't a good thing if you're a proud part of an Establishment whose authority is being eroded and whose control of the marketplace is being successfully challenged.

What these Establishment-media types will never do — what they can never do — is consider the possibility that the 24-hour news cycle and the rise of talk radio and the Internet are all positive developments.

And I would argue they can't consider that possibility — not only because their platforms are slowly sliding into the quicksand, but because these alternative phenomena have been of great benefit to conservative ideas, anti-liberal attitudes and Republican politicians.

They hate the Swift-boat story. Hate it with a passion. Some of it's based in genuine conviction. Some of it's patently ideological. And some of it's based in fear. They are worried the bell is beginning to toll for them, and they're right.

I said on our radio show on Saturday that the old, print-based media are selling buggy whips. They have tens of millions of dollars invested in technologies and distribution systems that are basically obsolete. So it's no wonder that they view the rise of new media with loathing.

Still, being the medium-of-the-moment gives us only limited pull. When our convention minder asked us what luminaries we'd like her to bring by Bloggers' Corner for an interview, our first choice was the Bush twins. This, however, was impossible; we'll have to settle for a Senator or two instead.

This colloquy started the wheels turning, however, and Kevin Aylward of Wizbang nominated one of our convention staffers, Megan Mollman, as GOP Babe of the Week:

As I say, it's a slow news day so far, even here in the epicenter of trendy media.

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» GOP Babe Of The Day Goes Mainstream from Wizbang
Thanks to the very babelicious Megan Mollman, I've now got an inside track to snaring interviews and photo ops with all of the top GOP babes. John Hinderaker at Powerline has a decent picture of her. Mine turned out terrible.... [Read More]

Tracked on August 30, 2004 02:16 PM