The Web of Influence

Drezner's article about blogging raises some old concerns that i had about blogging but it also puts them in a new light. Previously i had and still do to some degree question the use of blogs in mainstream media to such a degree that they are relied on for factual information. My concern is that information that is put onto blogs will inevitably be influenced by ones own political views. Drezner comments on this but seems to dismiss it a bit too hastily. The only defense that i now see for blogs and factual correctness is that there seems to be an online community like that which governs wikipedia that does a lot of fact checking and thus does not allow very slanted views to be completely put fourth as the truth. Additionally on further reflection the mainstream media also puts out news that has some sort of slant look at fox news vs. cnn. The only difference is that the slant put out by these big media outlets follow the slant of one person who owns the company such as Rupert Murdoch. And that these opinions are put fourth with a greater microphone, blogging seems to have leveled the playing field because the internet is the David that can stand up to the Goliath of huge built up media conglomerates. Blogs are like Drezner says are useful for firsthand accounts of events but one still has to consider the slant behind the posts or who might be making the posts. Regardless i see blogs as a good place for opinion pieces but I still remain skeptical as to their use as news sites.