Is Blogging Becoming Mainstream Media?

I’m not a fan of mainstream media at all even though I do get a lot of my news there. I think here in the U.S. we have some of the most filtered news in the world.  That left me wondering about all the news I get comes mostly from some blogs and underground, overseas, or not so well known news websites.  I’m not alone in this.  There’s a lot of speculation as to when — not if — blogs will become mainstream media.  Of course I’m not talking about personal blogs necessarily.  I’m talking about sites like The Huffington Post where AOL recently purchased that website for an unbelievable $315 million.  I tend to think that most people don’t even realize it, but blogging has become a very extensive and influential form of communication.   People want to hear what’s going on down on Main Street and they get it – completely unfiltered from these blogs.

Some institutions see blogging as a means of “getting around the filter” and pushing messages directly to the public.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blog

I find it funny how just recently mainstream sites like Fox News and CNN both started allowing comments, something very commonplace to established bloggers already and while they want to differentiate themselves they’re taking pieces of the blogging world that are working.  Let’s not forget CNN’s iReport and Fox News’ uReport.  I mean they’re tapping into social blogging at its very core when the general public can give first hand accounts without any scripting or “filtered” corporate policies.

The reality is the blogosphere is very diverse and is starting to gain traction and that can be seen by the expensive purchase from AOL.  Let’s face it, that price tag wouldn’t exist if The Huffington Post didn’t have all those loyal readers.  While there are still so many blogs out there it can be tough to really find the legitimate ones but it’s happening; the distinction between bloggers and journalists are becoming blurred.