Just days after Garry Trudeau treated web logs to his painfully honest humor, hapless U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann continues to show us the powerful upside of blogs.  Trudeau’s “Doonsebury” has fictitious Washington Post correspondent Rick Redfern attempting a private, profitable blog after having regretfully accepted a buy out from the newspaper.  Through Redfern’s frustration, cartoonist Trudeau zeroes in on the painful early development of new media:

“It’s tough to leverage a byline in a media environment where anyone who can type gets a byline! I’m competing for eyeballs with millions of narcissists, almost none of whom expect to actually get paid!”

Yet even with my own misgivings, blogs are showing us the future of news dissemination.  This brings me full circle to Minnesota Republican Bachmann, who this week told MSNBC’s Chris Matthews that Barrack Obama may be “anti-American” and that the media should expose other “anti-Americans” in Congress.  Internet news sites and the political blogs in particular created a multi-media explosion over Bachmann’s crazy statements, exponentially increasing MSNBC’s reach.  In just a few days her opponent had received more than $1 million in outrage fueled donations. On Wednesday two sources aware of ad buys in Minnesota told the Huffington Post the National Republican Congressional Committee is pulling its media purchases from Bachmann’s race.

It is a remarkable fall for Bachmann, given her predominantly conservative district. Through the 1980s, newspapers, radio, and TV routinely reported competing news outlets’ notable stories, such as the Bachmann gaffe.  As media outlets multiplied the practice of mentioning news from competing outlets largely disappeared, to the great detriment of the public.  Thankfully, Internet news sites such as Google News and the blogs have resumed shining the light.

The rightful multi-media explosion over Bachmann was reminiscent of Sen. Trent Lott’s 2002 public statements praising the beliefs of the infamous segregationist, the late Sen. Strom Thurmond.  The politically cozy mainstream media largely slept through Lott’s comments.  But the political blogs went crazy, forcing the mainstreamers to belatedly join in. Republican Lott soon resigned as Senate Majority Leader.

Bill Bartman is a freelance correspondent and investigative reporter for print, broadcast, and new media.  He is also a consultant to digital new media and related telecommunications and information technology ventures.

Article Tags: Chris Matthews | Doonesbury | Garry Trudeau | Huffington Post | Michele Bachmann | National Republican Congressional Committee

Filed under: Election, News article, TV