It seems like only a few short months ago that bloggers were frequently accused of feeding off the mainstream news media. Now it seems that the roles have been reversed.

Here is in Seattle for another visit to Exbiblio, I
begin my day in a coffee shop (where else?) reading the magisterial New York Times. I’m struck by how many stories stem from blogs. On page one, the felling of senator Joseph Lieberman in a Democratic primary mentions that his blog went down in suspicious circumstances, and adds that his opponent’s victory, “marked the first time that liberal political blogs, after playing an increasingly noisy role in Democratic politics, have been associated with a major winning campaign.”

The story about the Reuters picture of smoke over Beirut, apparently doctored, also gets a headline “Bloggers drive inquiry on how altered images saw print.”

Not surprisingly, Some say that Bloggers are now doing journalists’ work for them.

The AOL leaked search results story was also broken by bloggers and makes a front page follow up story, after a New York Times journalist tracked down and spoke to a woman whose searches had revealed her life and interests in great detail, almost like a map of her waking thoughts. This at least seems like some very good work by a journalist, and I doubt that a blogger would have taken to trouble to go into so much depth. Newspapers can still win on colour and human interest, but I don’t think the high-minded US media normally excel in that department. The NY Times is remarkably thin on features. Most of it could have been written by a Reuters or AP reporter. US editors are going to have to hire talented and individual voices, as well as take an interest in human nature, rather than just politics and world affairs - because quite frankly, I read most of their news yesterday.