I'm a sociology major at the University of Vermont in Burlington.  For a class on the media and its role in society, I'm am focusing my final project on news blogging. 

In my view, blogging has become an increasingly important factor in the media's role in supporting our democracy.  An example that you all are probably familiar with is this site's role in uncovering the attorney-firing scandal.  Not only was blogging able to bring the the firings to the attention of many people, it was able to bring it to the attention of the mainstream media which, in turn, led to some amount of response from the government. 

The exchange of information between many people was able to accomplish what professional journalists were not.

Whether you agree with my ideas or not, I would love to hear from any and all that have opinions on this issue.  There couldn't be a more appropriate forum for this topic.

Thanks