Bloggers Rumored to Be Selected as Time's "Persons of the Year"

I call the idea hooey, myself. And on that score, A Small Victory seems to agree.

I actually think a decent case could be made. Blogging is of course not the most important story of the year (although it's probably are the most important meta-media story of the year).

But since Time magazine won't give the nod to George W. Bush, they need someone else to give it to, right? It would be a deft, if transparent, PR move on Time's part, I guess. Bloggers would get off Time's case for a least a month or so.

Then again, who reads Time any more anyway?

The Politboro Diktat takes on Michele's case point-by-point and concludes it's a pretty swell idea. He compares blogging to the PC, which was made "Man of the Year" in 1982-- when the home PC had almost no visibility or impact in society yet, but would of course explode within a decade.

One problem I have with the Comrade's analysis: no mention whatsoever on the implications of any of this on that crazy blog-money I've heard so much about. It's a real oversight on his part.

On Second Thought Update: Maybe I don't want Time to do a cover on bloggers, anyway. Senator Philabuster predicts -- with almost guaranteed precision-- that it just means more crazy blog-money for the Daily Kos and Wonkette:

The cover will feature Kos, Wonkette!!!!, Sully, and Oliver Willis (by himself on the fold out page, obviously).

Then within the body of the article Instapundit and Drudge will probably get a head nod, but only during the boxed "Talking Points Memo" interview with Josh Marshall where he trashes them.

So the lefty blogs get all the sweet attention and lucrative endorsement deals, and the blogs straddling the right side of the divide get the same acknowledgment from Time that they did from the recent NY Times article: diddly-squatt.

He's so right. So, Time, do us both a favor and let's not but say we did.

Unrelated Update: Michele posts a link to this long, and often very difficult, quiz on eighties pop culture. A quick once-over tells me I don't know more than 20% of these.

Very Related Update: Who cares if Time takes notice of bloggers? Cranky Neocon has John O'Sullivan from NR (paper edition only) saying nice things about us.

And when I say "us," I mean people besides me, because he's never heard of me. Still, he's almost sorta-kinda maybe heard of people that may have linked me at one time or another, so that's still pretty cool.

posted by Ace at 08:34 PM

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