Josh:
With all this publicity, it appears you now have a choice. Expand your empire rapidly with VC money and BECOME the media, or stick to poverty and investigative reporting. Mammon to Josh, hello?

greg, what really catches my attention is the first sentence of the second graf you quote, because the comment about using "the usual tools of good journalists" contains within it the very thing we so often talk about here: how little journalism contemporary journalists practice.

we'll know that things have really changed for the better when we can honestly say that someone other than mcclatchy and bloggers use the tools of good journalists in what is now such a "source"-dominated misreading of woodward and bernstein.

Kudo's,

I read the TPM empire many times each day, and I couldn't be more proud for you guys.

I think the writer of the LAT article really hit on an important distinction between the TPM empire and other, more "shout-y" blogs..

" the ability to communicate almost instantaneously with readers via the Internet and to deputize those readers as editorial researchers, in effect multiplying the reporting power by an order of magnitude"

This is the true power of the internet, the ability to "deputize" the readers and build a very large organization, AND build large enough samples of information to spot trends.

Bravo and Congrats!

Not one order of magnitude, but 2 or 3. There are hundreds if not thousands of readers who tip off TPM to interesting facts, most in the public realm, which can be aggregated thoughtfully into a more coherent picture than the MSM has the patience to review.

Then there are the whistleblowers who are ignored or censored by the MSM--viz, the Mark Foley scandal. These folks know that they can email TPM or others and get their knowledge into the discourse.

It sure does work better.

First of all, you guys all do a great job, and the recognition is well-deserved many times over.

Secondly, when I woke up this morning and went through my old school routine, which includes a steadily increasing frustration with the LA Times, and when I wasn't expecting much because of the WH failure to release documents last night, I was pleasantly surprised. Oddly enough, this article is one of the best pieces of journalism I've seen in the LAT in quite a while. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that you and others are putting existential pressure on them, so they have to raise their standards. I saw signs of an engaged thought process.

But even so: another LAT article tangentially related to the purge that doesn't mention Carol Lam, let alone Dusty Foggo? Would it be so hard for the only semi-national newspaper in California to mention that a CA US attorney built a case against the #3 guy at the CIA, which caused the CIA's #1, who had been politicizing and purging the agency, to resign, all before she was forced to resign?

LAT still has a lot of making up to do for Serrano's article/hit job on Lam's immigration prosecutions last week, and I'm still waiting for them to put a call into my congressman, Waxman's office and to mention any of his important daily activities or the fact that his stack of oversight issues is growing hourly.

Congrats again--and keep the pressure on!

It is so refreshing to see some in the mainstream media are finally getting the critical point that the issue with fair-minded journalism isn't the existence of bias but being clear and forthcoming about it.

The recent work of TPM on the AG scandal and Firedoglake on the Libby trial mean that political blogs are now coming into their own as positive and effective media forces. In my view, this offers the first glimmer of hope for repairing some of the pervasive damage to the notion of a "free press" that so many of us once believed was foundational in our democracy but for many years now has proved anything but.

Thank you, all of you at TPM, for your vision and hard work and congratulations for a job extremely well done!

"That point is this: For all its flaws, the blogosphere is increasingly home to real live journalism, and it's only a matter of time until folks at the big news orgs accept this fact -- indeed, they'd be doing themselves a favor if they accepted it sooner rather than later."

Anyone else take note of the fact that an awful lot of the quetions in yesterday's Plame hearing sounded like they had come straight from blogland? I kept getting the feeling that staffers, if not the senators themselves, are catching on. It's a bit like open-source code: having a whole big community of people looking at an issue is going to turn up a lot of good ideas no single hacker would have come up with herself.

I was thrilled to see it on the front page. In essence, an admission that the MSM has jumped the shark - and now blogging has picked up the slack.

Couldn't happen to a nicer, or better, blog!

maybe a sense of self preservation is finally awakening in the self adoring media. As someone who is old enough(69) to have seen the advancing of media from print and radio to television to the internet land blogging.
by the way, television was the worst thing to ever happen to the dissemination of news because it led to the establishing a culthood of prima dona reporters that became the focus rather than the actual news events they were supposed to report on.
I can vaguely remember hearing Ed Murrow on the radio back in a time when reporters jos were to report the news, or even early television, Cronkite, Brinkelyl, when journalist still held the same standard of ethical behavior.
Presently however, I seldomly read a paper, never watch TV nightly news and seldom watch any of the cable news channels, but I lam one of those old dogs who can learn new tricks by depending on my computer to lead me daily to knowledge of what is really happening in the world, primarily through the blogs.
And those prima dona elitist members of the other forms of media had better start learning some new tricks also or watch their steady diet of cocktail weenies dry up, because, a news flash for them, buggy whip manufacturers ain't the only people who got or can get put out of business by progress, especially when the product you are selling is flawed by laziness and incompetence.

I sent Terry McDermott my compliments on his article re TPM in today's LA Times but noted he failed to define and characterize the TPM reader demographics.
At same time the rise of competent, honest, and professional journalism in a blog like TPM (still by far the exception) is some basis for optimism but not very much with how most people get their info from right wing prejudice and cowardice of cable news. Not until there is progress in that realm is there deeper basis for optimism.

Congratulations, Josh. The TPM empire has done itself proud.

Every time I read another MSM story like the L.A. Times one, I'm as proud as if my favorite blogs were my own, personal creation!

Like Grandpa John above, I too am in my 60s and can remember Murrow's and Cronkite's and Huntley-Brinkley's and those guys' early TV work. I too mourn the loss of great journalism and the fact that if one of those guys said something on the air, you could believe it, period. (I think their expertise came from the fact that each of them started in newspaper and/or news agency work, back when that meant doing a lot of legwork and hard digging for facts, and nobody in the business got to be a prima donna.)

I feel that the best of the left-wing political bloggers are a bit like those old newspaper guys, and that's why you're able to beat the "established media" at the stories you write.

At any rate, congratulations, keep it up, and bring on the next fund-raising drive!

My thanks and "Bravo" will come in the form of a donation.

From the LAT article:
"The blogs that have captured the most attention are those that devote themselves mainly to politics and public affairs. These are almost always run by partisans of one side or the other. In that, they are nearly the opposite of the sort of coverage presented in traditional media, whose coverage at least attempts to be neutral on questions of policy."

I strongly believe that part (and only part) of the mainstream media problem today is the 'balanced' approach, an assumption that the Bush administration functions like any other past administration. TPM and some other sites recognize that the Bush Administration is not about governing but is rather about power and the implementation of an ideology. Mainstream media, in general, has either not picked up on that situation or has, for the sake of 'balance' chosen to ignore what is all too clear.

In this regard, when taken in total, the Bush administration is the biggest story since the closing days of the Second World War. It's a story that the mainstream media has missed.

It's a structural problem. Jay Carney unwittingly divulged his methods by saying that he called his Democratic sources and assumed that their apparent lack of interest in the story meant that there was no story.

It's a problem with the structural relationships inside the Beltway, which translate into the structure of stories.

I am a grandmother of 5 and old enough to have listened to Walter Cronkite (my hero). But my new heros are Josh and his group of investigative reporters. I am a blogger avid reader and TPM and affilited blogs are my favoritea. CONGRATULATIONS on the kudos from LAT. All very much deserved.

I particularly like Josh's analogy with pamphleteering in colonial days. Shows Josh's knowledge of early American history.
Kudos to TPM. You are providing a valuable service to all of us.
"A rising blog lifts all media."

The first step in change is awareness. Months ago when I first learned of the 1st firing of an USA and that provision in the Patriot Act that allowed replacement without Senate approval I became suspicious of the motivations for wanting to do this. Then, I learned here also about Bush being able to put political appointees in all federal agencies I became paranoid. I began mentioning it in all my comments at the different sites like TPM, C&L, CP, Americablog, etc. It was a way for me to express my concerns. I read other's comments and saw in them the same concerns. This made me feel that I was not alone that I was apart of the process of trying to bring accountability to our government in spite of the MSM's disinterest and neglect. I tell my friends and they tell theirs etc. Before I discovered these blogs I kept my fears pretty much to myself and was highly unimformed. The far reaching effects of these blogs is just now taking shape. It is a direct way for people to become aware and that is how change takes place.

Greg: "More broadly -- and lest you dismiss this as overly self-hyping, keep in mind that this blog and its author had no significant role in the Attorney Purge coverage -- it's not outlandish to suppose that we'll look back at the Attorney Purge story as another key moment in the history of blogging. Perhaps we'll see it as a moment at which the perceptions of the blogosphere harbored by many professional journalists underwent another fundamental shift -- even a transformative one."

Just wanted to note that - as important and excellent as TPM's and TPM Muckraker's coverage of Attorney Purge is - this isn't happening in isolation.

The fundamental, transformative, shift that is underway actually started a few weeks ago with FDL's Libby trial coverage, which with the breadth and depth of its coverage blew away the mainstream reporting.

Either story, on it's own, could be portrayed as transformative, but could also easily be downplayed as an isolated incidence of excellence, the execption that probes the rule.

Together, they are far harder to ignore. It's not just in-depth pursuit of a single story that's transformative, but the emerging pattern of in-depth reporting from multiple blog sources that's truly making the unignorable case for blogs as a news media that can, at times, outperform the traditional media.

Let me add my voice of congratulations on well-deserved praise from the MSM.

One thing the reporter touched on that I wish had been more developed was the so-called "neutrality" standard the MSM is supposed to adhere to. It is one of the more serious failings of modern journalism, giving undeserved credence to people who really should be regarded as unworthy of publicity. It is rare that there are actually opposing rational arguments to any issue, and if one side cannot be defended rationally, it should not be included simply to create "balance," as it is not true balance, but an imbalance by weighting an argument with nonsense. If one thinks about this problem, it becomes clear how much that adversely affects the value journalism can have.

I think the two blogging moments to link together here are of course TPM and the USA story, and FDLs coverage of the Libby trial. I think it's worth trying to get a handle on the implications, because both show how blogs can and increasingly will affect the news cycle.

Let me add my congratulations too. As another old fogey I agree with my contemporaries. I hit TPM first thing after turning on the computer and always wish Josh a very good morning. It wasn't all that long ago that I read the paper with my coffee, now it is TPM.

It seems to me that the reason that we older citizens have embraced the blogs is because we remember good journalism. We remember the Cronkites and Huntley & Brinkleys and are heartsick about the changes we've seen. I think I speak for most of us when I say the blogs have put intelligence back into news gathering. And I for one am profoundly grateful.

So, thanks guys, it nice to see you getting some recognition but as far as I'm concerned you didn't need that article for validation. You're the best and we already knew that.

thanks for the excellent thread and all the congratulations all -- and thanks for bringing up FireDogLake. It's a very valid point, and I've added an update above.

Another golden oldie whose news now comes from the "tubes". I like the co-operative spirit of the blogs, with FDL deferring and linking to TPM on the USAttorneys and visa versa on the Plame case. Each blog that becomes the in depth source on a particular issue is cheered on by others that commit journalism on a regular basis.

Wow. First time I've seen myself quoted at a major blog. Cool.

And thanks, Greg, for adding / addressing the point.

"keep in mind that this blog and its author had no significant role in the Attorney Purge coverage"

Surely you meant to say "no insignificant" role i.e. it was a significant role.

Congrats to TPM! If I recall right, Al Sharpton wanted to "spank the Donkey" - great image, wrong target. Could we line up the MSM bubbleheads instead?

Congratulations TPM. Your raking of the Republican muck should earn you a Pulitzer Prize, er, just as soon as the Pulitzer committee recognizes the excellent writing and investigative work of some members, like at TPM, of the New Media, called Blogs.

Anyway, this past week John Edwards' office received an envelope filled with powder. Office shut down. Powder sent to be tested. Another "powdered" mailing since late 2001 sent to terrorize someone in the United States. A Democrat.

In December 2001 (just two months after the first "lethal anthrax" terrorist mailings, CNN reported that the FBI was conducting "15,000+ investigations" into these type of terrorist mailings. Sporatic reports since then indicate that Democrats, or others viewed as not Republican enough, primarily are the targets. Pat Leahy. Tom Daschle, Al Gore, Bill Clinton, Keith Olbermann, to name a few individuals. Abortion clinics, family planning centers, to name a few institutions targeted.

So my question to the excellent TPM community is simple: how many total terrorist mailings have there been since late 2001 and who has been sending them?

My guess is that we are talking about hundreds of thousands of "terrorist" mailing incidences in the past 5 1/2 years, primarily initiated by Republicans, based on reports about Democrats being primarily the ones receiving these "terrorist" letters containing powder.

The Justice Department knows the statistics. MSM news organizations have some of the information (as a reporter at the Philadelphia Inquirer told me), but are sitting on it so as not to "panic" U.S. citizens. In other words, they are sitting on this "terrorist" information to cover for the Republican Party and some of it's more radical members who find it amusing sending powder in envelopes to Democrats.

What? You've never heard of this? Well, then, the Republicans in the Bush administration (especially at the Justice Department) and their MSM lackeys must be doing a good job hiding it, aren't they?

"This neutrality is a favorite target of bloggers who say that mainstream journalism objectivity disguises hidden biases of the form, if not the writer."

It's not about bias, it's about credulity and independent corroboration. Objectivity is a strawman and is unachievable in practice.

What is inexcusable in so much mainstream journalism is the 'he said/she said' method of reporting facts that are independently verifiable.

Bill, I actually did mean no "significant" role -- I was refering to The Horse's Mouth and myself...I personally didn't do much of anything on the Attorney Purge...

My first-ever post at TPM, although you are one of the 4 blogs that I now read each day. It saddens me that people in the media have been brazenly manipulated by fiends. The newz Prima Donnas bought in to a Devil's Bargain, but I still hate to see fine, committed regional reporters confused with Judith Miller (who personifies the dangers of Prima Donna, Celebrity journalism).

The first blogs that I saw were software related -- and incredibly informative. I didn't assume that this technology would be applied to politics, but I definitely see the same pattern of rapidly developing, collaborative, cumulative knowledge bases that build organically. What you've created here has a lot of Wiki karma, and I admire that.

Having watched some software companies try to 'control' their employees' blogs - a hideous sight! -- I have some hunches about which blogs are likely to do well; and which aren't. Where genuine curiosity and PROBLEM SOLVING create a socially engaged environment, blogging thrives.

The article in the LA Times is deserved, but it is also insightful. The reporter who wrote it is 'creating intellectual capital'.

As is TPM. It's been an honor and a privilege to watch you do it.

As several others mention here, I also sense a transformation building in the past few weeks. I see connections between the FDL LibbyTrial liveblogging and TPM breaking the PA mess wide open. It's as if we're collectively shedding some old, outworn SickOfBuillshitAndBeingFleeced skin.

I don't view that 'shedding' as the death knell of the media; I view it as an opportunity for whoever (in the media) can figure out how to engage in a more humane conversation than the Rove and DLC-driven corporate apologists can provide.

I sincerely hope this 'shedding' will end the debased and dangerous Cult of Celebrity - both in politics, and in the media. Celebrity is fundamentally dehumanizing; this may be a chance to develop politics that has a human voice.

I think it's time for us to find terminology to distinguish professional blogs from the irrelevant vanity pages that populate cyberspace. I know there are no hard-and-fast criteria, but criticizing "blogs" makes as much sense as ripping on "books."

Might be time for terminology which reflects the distinction between blogs that put food on the table (or which even support paid staffs) and those (like mine) which don't.

Congratulations on the (pretty much overdue) compliments from a MSM outlet. I tend to think reporters are slowly catching on (at a slightly faster than glacial pace) but that it's probably going to be a long while before it has any impact on actual reporting.

Which makes sites like TPM, ThinkProgress, and Firedoglake (among others) so very important. People are getting news that otherwise would have been dismissed by the David Broder crowd as "just D.C. stuff that no one outside would be interested in". So we're in a great new era of newsgathering.

Let's hear it for the internets, the tubes, and TPM.

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