Blogging: 10 Years Old and Growing Up

I discovered an interesting article in the Gainesville Sun entitled Blogging: 10 years old and growing up

In what University of Florida journalism professor Mindy McAdams calls an example of the evolution of a once-scorned medium, UF graduate student Cher Phillips uses a blog called the McIntosh Mirror (mcintoshnews.blogspot.com) to cover Town Council meetings in McIntosh, [Florida] which has a population of roughly 500.

"No matter where you go, towns of 500 people just don't get media coverage, and who in town has time to go to four-hour meetings?" McAdams said. "Her blog is a perfect example of someone who's using a blog to do, in my mind, traditional journalism for a town that would have no coverage otherwise."

The blog's national evolution has been just as pronounced. Mainstream media outlets have gone from ignoring bloggers to forming alliances with them. Politicians who once dismissed blogs as "echo chambers for ideologues" are courting bloggers for coverage, or are keeping blogs themselves, said Diana Cohen, whose UF dissertation focused on how candidates create online identities.

Take the time to read the whole thing - its a good article about blogging in Florida.