Not My Fucking Blog, Billmon You Fucking Asshole

I think the response to Billmon's article, kind of proved his point. This has been the first interesting day in the blogosphere in quite some time.

I don't agree with everything he says, but I think the main point of his article is valid. Not just that money has made bloggers sell out, but that the money has made many blogs indistinguishable from the mainstream media. In the past six months it's gotten harder to tell the two apart.

I started going to blogs to get the stories that were overlooked by the mainstream media. It was like a whole new world had been opened up to me, with thousands of others inside as well. It was a great release and escape, an assurance that everyone in this country wasn't a total ignorant asshole.

But in the last six months or so, things have changed quite a bit. I think it all started when Ben Chandler started advertising for his special election on Atrios. It was a great thing, and it could have been the deciding factor. But then the secret was out, blogs could be a great way to raise money. And almost over night, all my favorite blogs were plastered with ads.

I don't think this is a bad thing, per se, but once money starts pouring, there is no way that content won't be affected. And it has been. Most of the ads on blogs are from political campaigns or related organizations, and all you need to do is go to Atrios or Kos to see that they have become, in content, not just appearance, "Elect candidate X" blogs. Sure this is great, our side needs to find creative ways to raise money, and the right would never have a problem with this. But it's not why I originally enjoyed reading these blogs. Nowadays I can just check yahoo top stories and there is not going to be much difference than many of the top blogs. That is where Billmon is right, and why it pisses so many bloggers off.

I think once the election is over things will probably calm down quite a bit, and a lot of bloggers will be having second thoughts about quitting their day jobs once those ad dollars stop rolling in.


***Update
It's not just the ads when I say that certain blogs have turned into "elect candidate x" blog. The bloggers themselves are have realized what influence they yield and promote certain candidates they want to help. Again, not that there's anything wrong with that, it just gets a little old.