Upcoming NYT Piece: Conservative Blogs Out-Influence Liberal Ones

Good to know:

In an argument sure to be challenged in certain sectors of the blogosphere, a story in The New York Times magazine coming up this Sunday declares that conservative blogs continue to best liberal blogs in political and electoral influence.

The title of the piece by Michael Crowley in the magazine’s 5th Annual Year in Ideas cover package says it all: “Conservative Blogs Are More Effective.�

Why are they more effective? Certainly Kos and King of All Open Threads Atrios have bigger numbers than even Lord Instapundit. Here's one theory put forth by the piece:

But he explains that “Democrats say there’s a key difference between liberals and conservatives online. Liberals use the Web to air ideas and vent grievances with one another, often ripping into Democratic leaders….Conservatives, by contrast, skillfully use the Web to provide maximum benefit for their issues and candidates.�

Ah. They engage in thoughtful, open debate and criticize their leaders, whereas we all just push the party line. Certainly there haven't been any major debates between bloggers over Terri Shiavo or Harriet Miers, or no criticism of Bush & Co. for overspending, Plamegate, torture, the mismanagement of the war, etc.

Conservates are just "poor, uneducated, and easily led," as the Washington Post once famously announced.

It's the all-purpose generic universal explanation for liberal failure.

Here's a competing theory: Unlike the liberal bloggers and readers, conservative bloggers and blog-readers are not, as a rule, diagnosable paranoid schizophrenics and general lunatics.

Conservative bloggers tend to discuss live, real issues. They take reasonable positions, certainly mainstream among conservatives, and reasonable even to moderates. (Even if moderates don't agree with this or that, it's not as if the position is simply absurd.)

Liberal bloggers tend to be obsessed with conspiracy theories, criminal investigations unlikely to result in convictions (and unrelated to actual policy debate, in any event), and general moonbattery. The basic dynamic of the sinestrosphere is everyone attempting to out-crazy each other, and, last time I checked, it's a million-way tie for first place.

It All Depends On Whose Gore Is Being Oxed Update: Strange Women Lying In Ponds offers:

The reason why conservative bloggers are more effective is that we don't have the MSM to count on to toe the party line. Having the MSM as a mouthpiece for the Democratic Party allows the left-wing bloggers more freedom to play to the bleacher seats. Meanwhile, we conservatives (and libertarians) are forced to hone our message in order to cut through the crap of MSM bias.

The Mary Mapes situation is a perfect example.

Yep, that's a good point. We're trying to drag the media from the soft left to the center, whereas they're trying to drag it to the hard left.

PS: Every vote Ace of Spades recieves makes Bill cry one delicious tear.

posted by Ace at 01:29 PM

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