Blogging the Elections
For me, Election Day brings memories of late nights watching Peter Jennings, Dan Rather and Tom Brokaw provide news and analysis. Of course, Peter is gone, while Dan and Tom have retired. But even if they were all still here, I doubt that I'd be turning to them tonight for coverage.
To see how influential the blogosphere has begun, all you have to do is take a look at how the major media outlets are covering tonight's election results. Time/CNN will host about 20 bloggers, from DailyKOS to RedState (left to right) in their "Internet Lounge", while MSNBC will include a number of bloggers in its coverage.
Looking at the chart to the right, you can see how sites like DailyKOS, Little Green Footballs and the Huffington Post have attracted hundreds of thousands of users.
The mainstream media still provides a level of quality (and fact-checking) that you can't get from the blogs. But many of us are turning to the web and to less formal channels for our political information. According to ABC News, 43% of likely voters use the Internet for updates on political information. That's why sites like MSNBC's First Read and ABC's Political Punch are seeing their usage grow.
So, where will I turn for results tonight? I'll probably watch the MSNBC coverage, but I'll also use CNN's website to compare race-by-race results to NPR's Election 2006 breakdown of key House races and Votemaster's Senate Race poll. And, of course, at 11pm EST I'll tune in for Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert (and guest Dan Rather) for their priceless insights on Indecision 2006.
In the meantime, in the immortal words of Dan Quayle (via Kenneth Cole) "Don't Forget to Vot".
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