Quick Link-Love For The Evening from Captain's Quarters
I'm busy trying to fix some issues with the Trackbacks -- I understand they're still not working properly, although comments seem to be okay -- and get some other work done. Instead of trying to force a couple of posts,... [Read More]

Tracked on November 30, 2005 11:20 PM

The MSM and the LPC can't fathom anything else, but a top down information stream. On an aside, Chretien just filed a challenge to Gomery's findings in Federal Court.

I am 56 and fed up with the bias in most MSM. Yes I look at tv news and I have the Calgary Herald and NP delivered daily, but its more to see what the enemy is doing than anything else. When I want the truth I check out my favourite blogs, and yes I do it numerous times daily.
When blogging first started, or at least when I first discovered them, is when I started sending emails to some MSM outlets, notably CBC and CTV.
I dont know how much effect its had on them but from Kates post we now know they are noticing.
So keep it up bloggers you are making a huge difference.

Some of the stuff posted here you know is 'insider information'which is why you can expect MSM to be so dismissive. They're told to adhere to strict editorial policy, so there's little room for independent or creative thinking as witnessed by Prof. Waddell's comments. He's an old horse the Mother Corpse routine trots out when they need somebody to agree with them, and should be dismissed as just another flake among the many. Expect that sort of thinking to become entrenched with nanny state daycare.

I'm 54, I get the local newspaper for local news only, I now skip a lot more stuff than I used to, including the columnists. I have a set blog-reading pattern, of the 43 or so blogs I have bookmarked I hit a few several times a day, some once a day, some once every two or three days. I used to respect the Globe and Mail, now I won't even read a free copy if it's available. Bias is a universal constant but lies and manipulative propaganda are intolerable.

Hi Kate you must really be getting to them they
have started to subtly discredit you.

I'm 48 years old and stopped watching or reading
MSN years ago. How stupid do these people believe\
I or anyone else. They stopped providing information
and began telling me how to think. That really ticked me off. So I voted with my feet and remote.

Then I discouvered the Blogs a few months ago and got to sound off. Plus I got to read the opinions of other average types just like me. Low and behold those opinions, ideas and thoughts bore no relation to the truck coming out of MSN. No longer did I have to swallow the pap that MSN was trying to feed me. It still amazes me how stupid they think we the people are.

I used to Love sitting down to read a paper but now on the rare occasion that I pick one up in the following moments I am just cringing at what I read
there they go again telling me how to think. So I don't read em anymore.

OK! OK! I gotta say it. YOU GO GIRL!
UGH splat! Tomatoe up side the head for that one.

Uhm, lets try again Kate you and others like you are making it a better world for all of us. So my hats off to you for all your hard work and Thanks.

An important quote from the article:

"The Internet tends to be a place where Conservatives feel comfortable," said Wells.
"But it tends to be from the base wanting arguments that excite the base reinforced rather than arguing for a tent-broadening message."

Blogs are an important source of information where the MSM fails miserably. But it is also polarizing in many ways, because people just want to have their own opinions affirmed. So they eschew one source of information that they deem to be biased, and go to another one that is clearly so. The best way to stay informed is to read blogs from all over the spectrum - that's why I'm here. Then it works like the confrontational court system: let each side take their best shot, and let the jury decide. We are the jury. And the MSM gatekeepers won't accept that they can't keep all the testimony out.

Newspapers are great.... for day old news. Old news combined with such obvious bias is the reason I stopped reading them. I can get the bias online, or real answers to real questions (ie: not the ones the Liberals have told their CBC or CTV reporters to ask) from blogs. Keep up the dialogue. The increased traffic on blogs is what is scring the MSM. That's why they have attempted their lame attempts to cash in with their election (censored) blogs.

Listening to Bill Good (CKNW Radio Vancouver) this morning. Someone called in to talk about bias in the media, Good said there is no bias reporting as a matter of fact he says most reporters don't like politiics and some don't even vote.
Too bad the caller didn't bring up that the owner of the Globe and Mail is a personal friend of the PM. I think I heard this person was rallying the troops at a recent fund raiser for the Libs.
Good also dicounted the CBC being biased. He said he has not made up his mind who to vote for but his continued denial if biased news reporting gives me cause to think Liberal is game.
Maybe wrong but thats the way it sounds on the radio.

How about a sidebar poll to see what is the age of SDA readers.

Count me at 35.

45ish yrs old and female, I read several blogs daily at work, on breaks only of course!! then at home read a little more sometimes lots more, depending on what's happening. I used to love to read at least 2 papers daily, now only pick up the Herald on Saturday and Sunday for the crosswords.

Fantastic post, Kate. I can tell you from first-hand experience that these misconceptions continue to hamper the communications efforts of political candidates as well.

Hi Kate,

Like many other of the commentators, I'm on the downward slide to 50 (and FWIW female). What the MSM and various journalism profs also fail to appreciate is the amount of information that I, as a blog reader, forward. My friends & family who are too busy , technologically inept, or (unless I prod them) uninterested to read blogs get the choicest bits emailed (with proper attribution). I know many of them then email friends, who email friends (and so on). Hence, my one hit to your site probably means at least 10 other people have seen a particularly salient post. Tough to do the same thing with my dead tree issues of the NP and Globe.

CBC Newsworld just had a techie on re blogs during the election. It's going to become a regular feature. They'll be checking in with this guy to see what his faves are that day. Just an overview, mentioned a few like rabble????something or other; then the party blogs. More in-depth stuff to come, presumably. You can bet it won't be anything anti-Liberal.

Blogs, and the informal way they disseminate and digest news and opinion will always be looked down upon by the MSM not because they think it is un-influential but precisely because it is.

The political junkies - those most involved or interested in it - use blogs and the internet as their primary information source. (Speaking from my own experience, some of the very best political writing I have ever read I have found on the blogs) These "junkies" are enormous centres of influence for those less involved as I bet everyone reading this would attest.

The Blogs are doing two things that will be fatal to the MSM if it doesn't change its ways:

It will destroy the MSM's journalistic "integrity" (insert great belly-laugh here) as happened to CBS and Dan Rather and it will, by consistently outscooping the MSM, become the point source for information to a rapidly increasing number of people.

The Blogs have the power to bring down leaders - witness the "Swift Boat" issue in the US last year.

Using the low youth vote as an argument only demostrates how ignorant and out of touch the MSM is with the internet. Seniors are some the very highest users and viewers. That you do not see a lot of seniors running blogs is more a function of their low technical knowledge of how to do it, not their volume of usage.

A while back I spoke to the editor of a major Canadian daily and he made the very enlightened observation that the type of media that suffers most when a new form of media dawns - in this case the internet - is the media that came immediately before it in this case Television.

As an aside, I think one of the biggest things missing from the blogosphere in this election compared to the last is a "Live" Andrew Coyne Site. It was on the verge of becoming the Blog of record when AC put it in suspend mode after the Non-con vote last spring.

Selective blog choices would be 'bl-editing' wouldn't it?

Caught coverage of that CBC/Environics poll. Biased doesn't begin to describe it, unless you use terms slanted or unprofessional. They said Stephen Harper is "only leader polling behind his party." This is a bad thing? Basically 10% of respondents don't think Harper good leader but still willing to vote Conservative! This is good news! Once he warms up with regular contact with people he can grow. Liberals have little room to grow, unless they can scare/bribe voters again. Another item on poll - did anyone notice that when they talked about ethics and accountability, questions referred to politicians in general. Love that Pee Wee Herman school of philosophy approach; "I know you are but what am I." The MSM seems determined to deflect Liberal ethical issues into "all politicians are corrupt" argument.

I notice Harper getting criticism on SSM. I think he has actually made a smart move. Get it on (and off)the table right away, fully disclosed and let MSM/Libs (same) go after him on on abortion and capital punishment. So much for hidden agenda argument. Regarding stance itself; let's face it, the one-third of Canadians who are in favour of SSM don't vote Conservative anyway. While I may disagree personally with his stand (Just let it go), it won't cost him votes but could help him in traditional immigrant communities IMHO.

"...arguing for a tent-broadening message" WTF???
Obviously this old fart of a professor doesn't know you can't go camping in the winter, especially in Canader, eh.
For the record: Male, married, employed, 54 years old. Supported Reform & Alliance when I was up north. Read the Houston Chronicle (a bit lefty) during breakfast as my laptop doesn't support cereal data. I don't even bother with the editorial pages. Check out Canoe.ca, then Calgary Sun, look in on Drudge, Neale News and SDA in that order only because I'm at work @0600 cst. After work I may see some Fox News (or not) and a scan of the above blogs again.

Oh yes, it is nice to see Jaymeister on side with this one. Me thinks the MSM is too worried about losing their "identity" and "their" breaking story than reporting the news. i.e. Grealdolt

"People are not coming home from work at night and deciding they have to read 10 or 12 blogs before dinner in the same way they may read the newspaper or sit down to watch the news."

Er, yes actually, that is just what this 37 year old does..I've got a lunch break that lends itself to reading too. The NP online and blogs...that's my information source!

Sidebar readership poll? Good idea!

Time to read 'the tipping point' again too...

45 employed rural white male.

Keep on truckin'Kate!

I do not consume ANY MSM--at ALL!

I am 66 and only read the blogs for information
on what is happening in the world of politics.
I simply cannot watch the bias in the paper and
the television.
I found the internet four years ago and have
watched the progross of the blogs and it really
is outstanding. They have the power to change
minds and they are doing a great job of bringing
the news to all in a fast and intelligent manner.
They cover all aspects of politics in both
countries and always take care they are giving
out the truth. They watch each other to maintain
their honesty in reporting and will quickly
let someone making a mistake in their comments
know so they can change their comments.
They are vital to the conservatives in both
countries, and are appreciated by more people
than they realize as some readers do not let
them know they are being read.
As noted in one of the comments, we read and then
inform people of the facts and that often brings
changes for the better.
My son, who never followed politics closey
before in now a card carrying conservative simply
because he read the blogs now.
Progress!

Kate

Why doesn't someone expose these pollsters for the political hacks that they really are? How do we as citizens ensure that they are reporting true sentiment and not making up "polling information". For example, would it not make sense for the "Liberal friendly" pollsters to skew the Liberal vote as higher than it is in Ontario so that Ontarians would say" We better vote Liberal because it appears that they are going to win and we want to be on the government side"? These pollsters could be putting out total BS and nobody has any way of verifying it.

40's, small business owner, married, male, member of Armed Forces reserve...Which is why I feel I have to post my comments anonymously...

God...today this place sounds like a tweleve step program for excessive paranoia.

My name is..........
I am....... years old.
Not even my tin foil hat blocks out the evil CBC.

So the CBC was subtly nudging people towards RABBLE! That place is extreme lunatic fringe, I equate it to a neo-nazi or holocaust denial website for its credibility and amorality factor. I web-surfed in there a few times but found it unbearable, the hate-speech, the whackjob ideas - "everyone in Canada should be on a fixed $25,000 a year salary" - but I guess the CBC would steer people there, it's definitively anti-Conservative.

42 and not much to look at (but my wife loves me).

I guess I have to thank my 18 years' as an IT professional for my "tech saviness." I can bookmark a page - genius I am!

Phil: opposition leaders usually poll behind their party.

bricker at ipsos pointed out last year that voters answer the "best prime minister" question as though the question was "easiest to imagine as prime minister".

his point was that that when time for a change goes over 60 and the polls show a clear lead for the new prime minister, the opposition leader would still be low on "best prime minister" until the day after the election.

...a clear lead for the NEXT prime minister...

Don is NOT old.

He's 37. His real name is Dennis and he lives in an Anarcho Syndicalist commune in downtown Toronto.

Come and see the violence inherent in the system!

I'm 52, widowed, employed, mother of 3 home-educated young adults. Two of my kids have blogs and that got me started.

I'm 56 years old and don't consider myself to be part of the internet savvy generation. Sure I can find my way around, but that's about it.

As for the MSM I rarely read a newspaper anymore (offline that is)seldom watch a TV newscast or listen to talk radio (something that was almost an obsession of mine.}I just can't take the leftwing bullshit that spews from them.

I get almost all my info from the internet.

The major difference between a blog and a newspaper or TV show is that blogs are instantly interactive. I can read a blog and then reply instantly, as opposed to having to email a letter to the editor of my local paper and then hope that they print it a couple of days later.

The exchange of information runs both ways, and can quickly mushroom depending on how many links one wants to pursue. That's been my experience with blogs.

As to the notion that blogs are not very influential, I think that's absurd. My personal view on the Iraq war, for instance, has changed dramatically thanks to blogs. I've gone from being somewhat opposed to the invasion to favouring it, due to the amount of information I've been able to glean from blogs over the past year or so. They provide a range of information that the MSM simply does not and cannot. Where in the MSM could I find stories from soldiers right on the front line in Iraq? They're exceedingly rare.

In the world of politics, blogging has opened up a huge field for right-of-centre thinkers to communicate with each other in real time. That did not exist prior to the internet, which has become an invaluable tool for spreading our ideas. The liberals and socialists always had a compliant MSM with a monopoly or near-monopoly on disseminating information in the past. Newspapers and TV stations, under the watch of their government minders, consistently toed a left-liberal line that no one could easily challenge. That's all changing thanks to blogging and I think that the Liberals and socialists are more than a little fearful.

The recent CBC strike may prove to be a watershed event in our history; notable because it was greeted not with outrage, but with yawns. This cozy bastion of statism was, for the first time in its history, treated as if it didn't exist by most Canadians. That's a far cry from the reaction to a CBC strike one would have expected thirty years ago, when many Canadians had no choice but to get their news from the CBC.

Keep up the excellent work, Kate. I think you've hit a lot of nerves with SDA.

Texas Canuck:

You bet I'm on side when it comes to this. The MSM serve nobody but themselves. In the case of the CBC it is their own funding, and in the case of the corporate media it is their conglomerates' coffers. (Which is why I chuckle at those who seriously believe that Bell or GE or Time/Warner support a socialist agenda.) Blogging is a good thing, but bloggers are gatekeepers too. That's why the broader variety of sources you turn to the better.

I cancelled my subscription to the Post a few months after the Aspers bought it. Gave them a chance again a few months ago and cancelled it after 3 issues.

Mr. Professor is dead wrong for coming home at night (and before leaving in the morning) sitting down and reading 10 or 12 blogs is exaclty what I do.

Jesus, though...you'd think Harper would do a little better than to allow this SSM free vote stuff to 'come out of the closet' so early in the campaign. Saw it on the front-page of every newspaper today and my first thought was: ok, he's done! Hope I'm wrong! I mean, I appreciate his honesty, but...

...at the risk of offending the anti-abortion, anti-SSM crowd here, when are the higher-ups in the party going to realize that if they are serious about getting power, they're going to have to put a damper on this kind of stuff.

The reality in Canada is that most people don't go for it: sheep that they are, they get scared by the notion of 'far-rightism', etc. etc... Myself I am a fiscal conservative/social liberal who will always vote Conservative, and it's incredibly annoying, to say the least, to see our side getting blown out of the water when this shit comes up time after time!

Evilest One

34, male. I guess I'm dangerously close to the stereotypical tech-savvy younger generation. I am certainly NOT any part of a "small group of insiders", though.

Anarcho-Syndicalist... haha! Left-speak for rule by organized-labour thuggery!

I've all but given up on the MSM, I listen to Charles Adler, Dave Rutherford(my favourite), Roy Green, on talk radio. I read the sun's and my favourite is Lorrie Goldstien, and check out about four conservative type blogs , and one liberal type blog daily, and occasionally watch ctv, and read the toronto star, just to see how crazy they've gotten lately. I'm 27 Male.

I just saw a news spot on ctv news net about blogs, they mentioned the blogging tories but prattled on about blogs in general in the usual fashion (tech-savvy geeks, insiders, 'wow, blogs!' sort of thing). I still don't think the media gets it; I check SDA every day for news, and updates. The MSM simply doesn't cover the news I need to hear about, and i'm contantly aggravated at how biased, one-sided and BLAND their coverage is. They simply don't cover the whole story. If I wanted government cheerleading, i'd go to the liberal party of canada's website.

Keep up the good work kate, because I trust you more than I trust any CBC employee.

37 year old male who reads the Post (I don't find it that biased, actually), the Sun (not because I really like it, but it aggravates me less than the Herald does) and as many blogs as I can on a daily basis. Avoid television news and especially anything to do with the CBC at all costs.

Hello Kate;
I am 65 year old retired military man who reads your blog almost daily. In fact, I am using my son's lap top in Brandon today, reading your's and other blogs in order to try and get a true interpretation of what the politicians are saying or not saying.

You have the best blog on the net and it keeps me from becoming completely dejected when I watch the antics of our corrupt Liberal government and direction that my beloved Canada is going under their misguided policies.

Thank you and keep up the great writing.

Alex Mills
Winnipeg

Outstanding post, Kate - I couldn't agree more. I read blogs for several reasons.

1. I get the news faster than I can from MSM. Because of blogs I was reading about stories like the Oil-for-Food scandal and Sony's screwed up copy-protected CDs long before MSM caught up.

2. I can read the stories that interest me and pass up all the fluff pieces that increasingly dominate mainstream news.

3. I find it increasingly difficult to watch TV news because of the incredible biases in the way it's presented. Most people think that because they are watching images on TV it must be real. Once you've caught on that they are only showing you what they want you to see, you get a whole different perspective. Last night I watched The National on CBC for the first time in months because someone here had mentioned a particularly biased segment. The whole bloody thing was a joke. They had several segments that consisted of nothing more than "man-in-the-street" types of interviews that reiterated Liberal talking points. Unless you're going to show me everyone you talked to, don't bother because I know you've edited it down to present only those views that fit your agenda.

4. There are times I've read a syndicated news article/column or watched a segment on TV and had to go to the internet to fact-check it because I suspected it was wrong. More often than not, it was either wrong or incomplete or manipulative. I shouldn't have to waste my time fact-checking MSM stories. I know that if I'm reading a popular blog any errors or misrepresentations will be jumped on immediately.

53 year old male who's been reading blogs for about 3 or 4 years.

BTW, the new version (1.5) of the Firefox browser has just been officially released and it's great. Combine it with a newsreader extension like Sage and blog reading is a breeze.

24, married white male living in small town alberta with 2 kids.

No t.v in our house, no newspaper subscriptions, just a sexy mac with a high speed connection.

There's a number of blogs I check on a daily basis, blogs are the PRIMARY source of information shaping my vote. (Ditto for my wife.)

Thanks for the good work.

P.S I would vote on Christmas day in my santa underwear if it meant a shot at Ottawa.

I forgot to chime in with my particulars: 35 yr-old dad from the GTA in Ontario.

Why am I not surprised by Mrs. Thatcher's comment (12:57) that the CBC techie reads rabble.ca? What a waste of bandwidth.

39, male, Luddite. Barely technoliterate enough to start MS Word.

Been reading blogs since '02 - but last year, around about Rathergate, gave up entirely on newspapers. Haven't watched CBC News since 2000; haven't watched any televised news since the fall of Baghdad (and I watched that war on Fox). Occasionally watch CPAC / C-SPAN for realtime stuff (haven't sussed out these "Podcasting" and "liveblogging" things yet).

Keep it up, Kate, SDA rules the Canadian blogosphere.

Don't forget, almost the first day back in the House and just after the CBC strike ended, Harper got up to ask a question, can't remember what it was, but he did same something to the effect, Is the minister hoping that, like the month-long cbc strike, nobody would notice? So, I suspect they've declared open season on him.

2,000 plus year old Athenian, unemployed, dialectician, sometime dramatist, heterosexual, male, technically dead (DWM).

My favorite blog outside of the one started by one of my students. Enjoy your blog and wanted to have a ringside seat at the most corrupt government ever seen since the 30 Tyrants took over Athens.

Socrates lurks as well but doesn't speak up for fear he'll be executed all over again.

"society will always try to tyrannize thought."

34, male. Tech-savvy enough, though not excessively so. Most of my extended family knows of my blog, and several regularly read it. I haven't done much e-mailing to them about particular articles though (yet). I'm on lunch at work right now, though I also spend probably at least one hour per night reading blogs (and SDA is probably the most addictive one, since Coyne disbanded his last spring).

Evil Prince, I'm one of those SoCons who think it's a good idea to be up front and center about the social issues. I believe it was Harper who spoke years ago about how fiscal and social conservatism are fundamentally linked (which is certainly debatable, but a fair argument). There is nothing wrong with taking a principled stand. Do I, who oppose SSM, want the whole campaign to be about it? Absolutely not. To pretend that issues like SSM and abortion are outside the realm of responsible political discussion is a failure of our system to encourage mature debate. I'm more relieved at Harper's willingness to clearly state the CPC's position on free votes about SSM up front and early in the campaign, than I was by Day's avoidance of discussing his views on abortion, despite the fact that, morally, Day holds a view much closer to mine than Harper's. This 'boogeyman' approach to debate in Canada has got to go. PMPM (and many Liberal/MSM shills) insist that abortion/MSM are 'settled' issues that don't need to be debated - they are absolutely wrong. I'm longing for a SoCon Canadian leader who can intelligently discuss these things (many can), but who also won't back away from a fight/debate (few will).

Kate,

I subscribe to the Post and would cancel it in a minute if I wasn't addicted to Sudoku (BTW my ability to remember phone numbers and stock numbers has improved dramatically in the last few months). I'm also dying to see to what depths David Aspers will sink to defend the Libs this time around. I do have to thank the Post for introducing me to Mark Steyn who is the best columnist I have ever read.

When I do read the paper I notice how much of it is stuff I read days ago on the net.

As for the blogs, I read at least 10 every day and change them regularly as I find better sources of news or comments. The cream rises to the top much faster on the net than anywhere else. Please keep up the great work!

Marc

PS: 42 MWM

Make sure you put a 'security fence' around that age poll.

Vellacott just on CKOM. No wonder we struggle to gain acceptance and votes with idiots like this spouting his anti-gay, anti-abortion view. I too am a fiscal conservative/social liberal, and I don't support SSM, but focus on real issues.

The tech savvy twenty somethings are using their savvy to excel at video games.

They mostly all identify with the leftists ... as it goes if you aren't a socialist at twenty .. you have no heart ... if you aren't a conservative at 40 you have no head.

Young people are all about feelings and that there is a free lunch for them .... They still don't know what its like to have to put themselves second to a child or something other than self.

They also don't bother to go vote. They whine about whose in power and how unfair it all is.

I am 62 and I am tech savvy and so are most of the people I know over 40 ....

What did you expect from a professor ... their are the last people to know anything about anything but their own tenured little world.

It's really scary when they don't even understand the nature of their own field of study.

40 year old farmer. Read your blog daily.

Kate,

This late forties guy is not surprised that the left leaning Canadian MSM would try to downplay blogs: Torqued, misleading stories, often larded with editorialising, can now be subjected to public fact checks, correction, and well deserved ridicule. The MSM gods also get subjected to personal scrutiny; if I see a CBC reporter high fiving with Scott Reid I will post it here and it will become widely known.

Blogs mean accountability to the MSM. They are not used to it and they don't like it.

I guess I'm one of the youngsters here. I'm 41 years old, small business owner in a bedroom community of Edmonton.

Despise the Edmonton Journal as a pinko commie rag. Read the Edmonton Sun online ever morning, especially editorials and letters to editor from all the Sun chain papers. Whoever it was at the Sun who hired Sheila Copps, Charles Adler and Eric Margolis needs a serious labotomy/ass kicking.

Read SDA, Day by Day (cartoon), Ann Coulter, Mark Steyn, Nealenews, Drudge, Laura Ingraham and scan through the daily offerings at The Blogging Tories and Angry in the Great White North.

SDA is, undoubtedly, the BEST Canadian blog and Kate is Wonderwoman! Keep it up!

Married White Male, 35 with 5 kids living in Calgary. I can honestly say that I can't remember when the last time was that I sat down to watch the news on TV or read it in a paper. I listen to radio news on my way to and from work, and I will go to the TV if there was a major disaster and I want to see video. Blogs are good with pictures, but still a little slow on video coverage. Most of my news comes from the internet with the political coverage coming from blogs.
Jaymeister, Bell and CanWest are beholden to the Cdn gov't because of the CRTC. CRTC is a direct arm of the gov't despite claims to the contrary. CanWest is also owned by the Asper family where Izzy (yes, I know he's dead) was head of the Manitoba Liberals.
Evil Prince, Harper came out now with his So-Con agenda now so that they have time to deal with it rather than waiting for the Libs to bring it up and smear him with it in the last week of the race. Also, I believe a slim majority of Cdn's were AGAINST SSM, like I am, so it actually isn't a bad thing to bring up. Those who are strongly in favour of SSM enough to make it their sole choice for voting always vote Lib or NDP anyway and never would vote CPC so he's not losing any voters.

62 years old, buy three newspapers per day, two freebies per day, perhaps a half-dozen more on the internet. Watch the news and the house of parliament on the 'tube everyday. Most of my chums are neither on the 'net, nor read any newspapers !?! Nor are they political in any sense. That's how it is these days. (And that is probably why the politics of this country are where they are-don't know, don't care, don't make any difference?
Sorry- the Liberal Party of Canada is a criminal organization. The NDP are nothing more than Liberals by another name. The Bloc applies only to Quebec. The 'Greens' ( I kinda like 'em)-but they do not meet my priorities.
If the stench of corruption in Ottawa is not cleaned up, ( and only Harper can accomplish that)- I already have the country I intend to relocate to, (at the age of 62)-and you can stuff this one up your ass! This is the last opportunity you will get, to change this! (Evilprinceweasel- you are correct.)

Forgot to mention: Kate rules!

I caught the lame CBC take on blogs - of course, the pinhead just had to point to Rabble Babble as the top site - a site which rigorously bans any critical conservative comment - as one where anything goes, yeh right. Then Liblogs, with comment, Blogging Tories, with no comment, then lingering shots of NDP blogs, with his wrap up comment that blogs let people react immediately when Harper makes a comment. Spin much?

Great comment, Shane.
As a 77-yr old female I researched local men who died in both world wars (and co-authored a book now in print)which means I have read far more books and seen far more documentaries on the wars than any elderly woman should (for her bp). I've also read at least one hundred letters written from the front and believe me, they fought for the rights of all of us to be able to express ourselves in a democracy.
For EPW - Those of us who oppose SSM and abortion-on-demand have the same rights in this hard-won democracy. The discussion can't be open to one group and not the other. Which is really what we're asking of the MSM - present both views and let us decide.

Yes Kate I agree the Trudeaupian MSM has a smarmy, edging on nasty, opinion of people who frequent the blogeshere or any alternate electronic media....pompous media asshats like Wells (and the like) try to justify their covetous contemp for us by wrapping themselves in in a sanitizing mist of mythical "professional journalistic ideals"....but the bottom line is we are essentially their competitors and the media pontificating monopolists don't really like being questioned by us nor sharingor losing audience... nor do they relatre to the average Canadian, let alone our opinions...and now that E-publishing makes everyone who is literate an editor and publisher...this is simply too much for them.

The bottom line is ANYONE's opinion is just a valid as the Wellsian opinion of the cloistered media clique...probably more so because unlike Wells and other elite class scribblers is that. unlike them, we don't reap any benefits from hob knobing and playing sycophant with the political elite...they must go along to get along to keep their incomes and priviledge.....we ( blogerphere) OHOH, are largely populayed by peole directly effected by the poor administration or errant policies of the political elites that wells and company are willing to overlook to keep thei jobs.

I put most of the MSM smarmy contempt of alternate media and opinion to the inbred hubris and snobbery of an elitist media clique who have had a monopoly on opinion for too damn long.....the crusty pontiffs just can't stand real competition or being corrected when they are decidedly errant ;-)

Marc: ditto your comment about the Post (back in the good old days) introducing me to The One Man Global Content Provider. Steyn rocks!

I'm near Toronto, 54, male and, as a computer professional for over 20 years, one of the 'tech-savvy.' (and a Mensan. :-) ) This is my first comment here.

I rarely watch TV, and I haven't bought a newspaper in years, though I will pick one up the odd time in waiting rooms, etc. I listen to the radio in the car and at home -- mostly jazz, though I do end up getting some news that way.

I get my news from blogs and other sources on the Internet. Your's is one of the blogs I read daily, Kate. I appreciate what you do, and I thank you.

34-yr-old female, American, living in Edmonton. Had abandoned newspapers and TV news (except for occasionally watching Fox and local weather) back in the States. We (personally) don't have cable here, except for some funky channels that the board must pay for with reception, so I might watch CPAC (if something's happening) or the business channel, but we really only put the TV on to watch videos/DVDs. Enjoy reading the Post on Saturdays (with G. Owen, special columns, & books) but that's about it. Have personally had a blog, off and on, since 2002. My husband is 52 but would not know a blog if it bit him; however, my father (67, American) gets most of his news from the internet, always sending me interesting links, and my father-in-law (79, Polish-born Canadian) is also very into the internet and especially keeps up with Poland on Polish-language websites and blogs. Both of them used to be two-paper-a-day men (my father, the local paper and the WSJ; my f-in-l, the local and the G&M, then the NYT, now the WSJ); my father now only takes the paper on Sunday, and my f-in-l still takes 2 papers, but says he reads less and less of them, as he's already read about the events online.

As for :
"People are not coming home from work at night and deciding they have to read 10 or 12 blogs before dinner in the same way they may read the newspaper or sit down to watch the news."
Haven't you heard of a blog feed aggregator??? That's exactly what people do!!! Man, these journalism people need to add some blog studies, post-haste.

What these yahoo's seem to forget is that those of us who grew up in the 60's, 70's and 80's kept following technology through the popular years of the 90's. We are raised with it, we like it, we are educated with it, and sometimes we earn our paychecks from it. Heck, we control the security of the country, we even wrote the stuff that handles the Liberals transactions.

So, all they are showing us is that THEY don't understand this stuff, THEY don't know what it is for, and THEY are out of touch with the common man and with what the country is doing.

I mean c'mon guys, the Space race was in the 50's and 60's, do you think we did that with a slingshot? The Internet was created awfully darn close to that time period. Get with the times....this is how we communicate these days.

Excuse me, I have to run. The doctor is coming over to apply leeches to an ailing family member, and I think I just heard his buggy turn the corner a half mile away.

One of the many equations of life is that: all things must change.
These symptoms we see from the old style media are endemic of a group of people/organizations that fear change and rely heavily on the government to ensure that ‘change’or ‘different’ is seen as a dirty word by the general populace. As the MSM falls further into obscurity we can expect to see this dinosaur continue to lash out at its newer more agile competitor.

A litlle advice to the MSM.
You are either a leader or an also ran.

Hi Kate.

Like the posters above I to am a mid forties male. The MSM has become so biased and full of S___ that they make me sick. A very long time ago I locked out the Communist Brainwashing Channel to save my child from their evil. I no long will buy any main stream paper as they fill it them with mistruths and blatent lies. I find the bias on the tv new from ctv and global will be getting them the same treatment as the CBC (locked out!)

You scare the hell out of these scum and they will do everything and anything to doscredit the voice of the people. These people that call themselves journalists are nothing more than second rate shills for the liberano's.

Keep up the good work Kate.

And remember if the liberano's get back in it won't take them very long to lock down the net so free speach will be even further restricted.

I'm 59 yrs and a retired male federal civil servant. I read about 10 blogs daily (including SDA)to supplement the crap I get from the MSM. I know Chris Waddell. He's actually pretty smart, but he was wrong on this one!

47 year old MWM. Was up north for a week with no computer access. In my opinion I'd give up caffeine before SDA. Blog on, Kate.

I'm 31. What's a newspaper?

I'm 37 Kate, I've read your blog going on two years now, I have 26 blogs I hit every day. Some political like yours, some US political sites, some financial sites, and so on. Chris Waddell should grab his shoulders as should the rest of these guys and pull their heads out of their asses.
Blogs provide very good forums which lead people to ask questions, and provides a venue for discussion wether you reside on the right or left of the political equation the discussion can and frequently leads to clarity, the paltry few trolls both left and right aside mind you...

59, pushing 60, male, semi-retired, lovin' daily doses of SDA.

BTW: Kate, I think one of the reasons we are seeing increased negative, dismissive or distorted MSM articles on the blogesphere is twofold:

a) the numbers show MSM media subscribers and viewers dropping and alternate e-media is increasing their readership and is picking those ex-MSM readers up.

b)The tone and outcome of this election will be defined by the behaviour of the MSM...they are obviously taking a "more active roll" in partisan politics and actually believe it is ethical to sway an election to their partisan leanings....fair enough if you declare yourself as a liberal or conservative media source and you negative messaging as unsubstantiated biased "opinion"....but don't give us these partisan negative messaging pieces disguised as "news"...like the CBC did last night. That gets me crazy and insults me at an intellectual level (even though Wells and his CBC contemporaries may hold my intellect in contempt).

This type of media interference in the due process of democracy will incur the wrath of the alternate media...they know it and they are trying to discredit us before we start catching them in their sleazy little acts of bias.

They're scared Kate.....they're scared because they know they're being watched and that we have a way of making their disinformation and unethical behaviour public. Their response is the same they have used for years....discredit all other opinion....see what Asper did to Harper when Harper indicated that the Post was not a true conservative voice in media....reactionary hatchet job...that's your professional journalist ethics right there baby.....the Blogesphere can only improve from this standard.

I'm 63, a university teacher nearing retirement, and I've been using computers for 20 years, and email for 15. I gave up on CBC TV news about 1980, and radio CBC a couple of years ago. I cancelled the Post earlier this year...it was great at first, but it's gone downhill.

Note to Duke: not all university teachers are crazed lefties, though you'd certainly think so from the ones you see in the media.....

The great thing about blogs (and about the Post in its early days) is the liberating feeling that there are others out there who feel the same way you do about current affairs. This is a great site....keep up the good work...

Yea, what everybody else said. Blog on, Kate.

42-yr married father of 2 :) The first blog I ever read was angry in the great white north and have been hooked since. The bias in the MSM has me deeply concerned. Love your blog,Kate,as well as so many other Blogging Tories. Thank you all.

BTW#2:

50- Separated, small town White Male, self employed engineer, stopped subscription to news papers in the early 90s when Southam's stale filtered news, open partisan bias and preachy social engineering was at its height. The only thing I ever payed attention to on CBC or CBC newsworld was the articles in Frank mag or what the blogs were saying...haven't watched corporate TV news for 8 years....subscribed to Fox news...saw it was just as biased and preachy and unsubscribed....read mostly internet news groups, political boards, private individual-owned and operated e-news, E-zines and blogs...have done so since I got connected in the days when a 486 100mhz was a rocket ;-)

My distain for the open manipulative journalism and preachy social engineering of the MSM has reached critical mass...the tipping point was the MSM circus of the 2000 election which played out like the Scopes Monkey trial... all the issues and government record were ignored and the opposition leader's religious faith and character was assassinated by the MSM...it was a low point for me...it made me shamed to be a Canadian. Today I catagorize the central Canadian media in the same slot as the federal Liberal patronage cartel...actually, as a wing of it.

I look forward to seeing HSM bias in this election met head on with the counterbias of the internet and Canadian online community.

I am a male, will be 52 in January (if I remember correctly) and stopped watching broadcast "news" several years ago. I find the newspaper nearly irrelevant, always a couple of days behind the blogosphere and I don't own a birdcage so why subscribe? Love SDA. Stay warm up there.

So, 73 comments posted in a few hours, before most people are even home from work. This "echo chamber" is huge, and a lot more prevalent than the MSM would like - or admit.
A lot of them must be feeling an itch between their shoulder blades. And the smarter MSM types who have read this far must feel like the soldier who hears a *click* when taking a step...

Bravo, Kate! You and others like you are the only check or balance left in this crypto-fascist dictatorship...

Kate - I'm 57, and have tried to be computer savvy ever since university days. The notion that computers are "new" is at least thirty five years out of date. The people that hold that notion are similarly eligible for reference in the past tense.
And it didn't take blogs to make me realize that the Globe and Mail and others of that ilk were tools of the Liberal party.

44, almost 45. Design engineer for a communications manufacturer. I vote regularly, read two or three newspapers a day... read about 15 blogs, also daily. I make a decent living, own a house, etc. and have a good credit rating.

So, doesn't that make me one of the people the media want to reach? Guess not.

Mid-forties, involved with tech and the Internet since before it was called "the Internet."  Way more tech-savvy than most of the 20-year-olds I've met recently (their appreciation for tech is very much of the "light-switch" persuasion — they know how to turn it on and off, but have no idea how it works [same as for most people, actually]).  The lack of "tech-savviness" amongst the youngsters is probably a good thing overall — it means that most of the tech in their daily lives is background, something in their perceptual landscape they use without even thinking about it.

Chris Waddell's sucking air.

And blog use?  Purely a check on the MSM.  I love the self-correcting nature of the blogosphere when it's in heavy-duty fact-checking mode.  Can't get that in the MSM for any price!

Harper's speech at the Halifax rally is a beaut.He has put 10 Lib seats in play.Funny how Ctv Newsnet and CBC ended coverage abruptly.

40+ male, married. Anything but tech savvy. Have been reading for a long time, first comment. We have a NP sub. this year (cheap through Telus). Won't miss it next year. We read several blogs every day. Love your blog, who needs MSM?

Late 30's, formerly 3 newspapers a day.
No newspapers, top 5 minutes (maybe) of the news ONLY when some big event is on.
MSM so full of it, twisted news, big events not even covered.
Where do they think this declining readership in newspapers is going? Have we just stopped taking an interest in news?
You are getting alot of mention Kate. CaptainsQuarters and SDA my first two blogs. Well done.
enough

I'm 43, married 20 years, one daughter, 17. This blog has supplanted a great deal of what I watch in the national media as I faithfully follow and perpend each releveant link provided by Kate, contributors and those who partake in the comments section.

I am thankful for Kate for providing this forum to me (us) to examine and even to in a small scale partake in sociopolitical matters affecting my family, Canadians, and Albertans. There is no particular mechanism in the MSM which facilitates this process as well as blogs such as this one does.

If I would like to listen to "a journalism professor", I would listen to Robert Murdoch and he doesn't believe in the future of printed press.

Kate....Is it a secret how much traffic your site generates? Would you be willing to sell advertisement space?

Approaching double-nickels, read newspapers only for sports and opinions. There, at least I know what I'm getting.

46 SWM heard about blogs on talk radio finaly figured out how to access them about ayear ago still not to good buy the sun for the sports section and sunshine girl to post in my private work area and piss off people who want to act so correct TV news time for the sportscast only

I am fairly new to politicals blogs. I find them knowledgable and full of refreshing ideas. I don't always agree with them but it is refreshing to hear more than one side of an issue. I am male 46 years old and yes I read them while I have a few minutes of down time at work. I have a hard tiem trusting any news papers

I have been reading SDA for about a year(?) now. Well, a while anyway. I am 28 years of age and I have followed politics since becoming a member of the Reform Party. From what this professor has said, it seems like he is exactly wrong (I am positive large amounts of people access this blog and others, and I know for myself I check them whenever I am at a computer – hoping for that next posting!).

I think that blogging is an application of the web that combines the attributes of MSM reporting/journalism and the good old fashioned Usenet (newsgroups). For me, I have read the newspapers since I started working at a corner gas station and talking about news to customers was a job requirement (we needed ammo in other words). I am also a long time user of the newsgroups. Since I have discovered SDA (and other sites), I no longer actively read the political newsgroups and I have stopped reading the national post. This blog is significant to me because it has directly modified how I obtain the news. However, I think that a lot of the information on this site wouldn’t exist without MSM reporters first obtaining and writing about the news (I assume this because most entries here refer to a story written by a MSM provider). What is significant is what happens after that. The story doesn’t end! Facts are checked and re-checked by dozens of “correspondents”, additional information is researched and posted in real-time, opinions are gathered and updated, letters are scanned in and uploaded, jpg images are edited and literally hundreds of “journalists” (some of which are better than many professionals writing today) provide witty remarks.

To me the 'Blogosphere', is a system composed of technology and people that filter all the political news for me. I can look at one or two sites (SDA is the first one I read) and get news and opinions from many sources. This saves me a lot of time. I don't have to wade through a newspaper, partially reading columns, that in the end don't interest me in the slightest. I don't have to visit half a dozen newspaper sites with their tedious little keys all over the place.

I also consider the blogs an opinion amplifier. One of my favourite sections of any newspaper are the letters. For some reason I prefer to read the newspaper starting with the letters (something to do with getting multiple peoples opinions on a subject - it seems more balanced). I read the letters and then I read the articles referenced (thanks to the NP 7 day archive). Where I once read articles that were compositions of one persons opinion, I now have access to literally hundreds of peoples opinions. Now if I feel the columnist is incorrect about something or is basically full of it, I get direct feedback in the form of dozens of people's opinions reflecting as much.

What I appreciate the most is the information I get that helps me during conversations with people who don't read the news (exactly as Kate puts it in her last sentence - paragraph?).

Hey, I have you all beat, age-wise. I am a 78 year old lady and I keep up with all the news reading the blogs. My favourite is yours, Kate.

I learned to type on an IBM card punch when I wrote my first program in 1971. I've had email since 1974, participated in can.politics back in the UseNET days, and wrote my first web log server software in 1998.

You tell that to kids today, they won't believe you - http://tinyurl.com/cdhw

I essentially don't watch television any more, now that Bugs Bunny, Julia Child, Banacek, Yes Prime Minister, and The Iron Chef are no longer broadcast. Although I heard a rumour that they might rerun Kolchak, which would be good.

Fortunately I made an exception for the Grey Cup. What a game!

23, Yank, word-of-mouth you Canadian blogstar who wants to save the world.

Thank God.

I'm here for the straight scoop. Martini and his faux patriotism dishonor my Ontario Liberal friends and exemplar (okay, role model) Sandra "Lady Churchill" Pupatello. Harper's gonna avenge the Magna when Belinda Stronach is bye-bye-bimbo and Paul Martini has to run for Prime Minister... of the Bermudas. I'm gonna go nuts, jump up and down, cry a little and make the V-sign when the news comes: CONSERVATIVES WIN, STAND UP FOR CANADA!

Then America should say with one voice: WELCOME BACK!!

50, female, married mom and homemaker, Sunday Sun for the crossword puzzle

SDA, the Shotgun, Damian Penney, Angry, Tim Blair, Captains' Quarters, LGF, Mark Steyn.

Why? From a columnist at the Knoxville(TN) News Sentinel about Mapes, Rather and the memos:

Neither she nor CBS were prepared for the carefully orchestrated "killing" of what was, by every industry standard, a well-documented report, substantiated beyond the highest journalistic protocol.

Even crack whores have higher standards - they don't lie about what they do.

37 year old male Army officer preparing to deploy to Kandahar in January. I get my news from all the usual news suspects, but I take it all with a grain of salt until I've checked the facts - and by far the most effective way to do that is with the help of a few blogs.

Keep up the good work, Kate. SDA is where I start my fact checking.

41 yr old tech-savy MWM, half a dozen blogs per day, sda several times a day.
No idiot box (books much better), papers only to "know thy enemy".

Hey Duke! some of us profs do pay attention to the rest of the universe...

hps

Kathryn,

It appears that Rather and Mapes aren't the only ones who believe in fake but accurate reporting.

Good Lord! I think that Texan Canuck has been peeking over my shoulder! The only thing different is I don't read the Houston Chronicle. Cancelled my Calgary Herald years ago as I know the routine by rote. Cancelled my NP about a year ago as they too started to lean heavy Liberal. I am 62 years old and a female ,have most always been a homemaker and raised five kids, also have 12 grandkids so have seen a bit of life. My son-in-law is a techie so he has been my support to get online. Hardly ever have to call him anymore. I too e-mail articles and am sure many get passed on down the line. I love the blogs and love to be able to get the truth instead of being force-fed crap from the MSM . Is it any wonder the press is in such a tizzy, they have lost so many customers to the internet. Keep up the good work Kate, you have a big following.

Jaymeister, it's off topic for this thread, but from what I can see, it omits info that is anti-American, one of the greatest crimes that the LATimes, NYT, CBS, etc. can imagine.

One side of the story is not even close to fake, fraudulent and false memos.

No further thread-jacking from me.

DWM - mid-forties - no newspapers for me - the money I save easily covers the cost of my internet - used to read 3-4 papers a day depending upon which part of the country I was in - refuse to let my $$$'s go to the enemies of democracy - except CBC which I currently have no choice but to pay for - watch only HNIC there - the MSM is the most flawed institution in our democracy - a truly un-biased media would not allow things like adscam to occur - investigative journalism?? What's that??

And that makes 100. Welcome to the third millenium.

Marc, you can cancel that Post subscription now:
http://www.websudoku.com/
Also, I publish a 16x16 monster sudoku on my blog every Saturday. http://robot_guy.blogspot.com

I'm 37, male, and I grok tech in a big way (I've been a computer programmer for 25 years, I design printed circuit boards for the robots I build, and I am currently designing a rocket that will boost 1 kg nanosatellites to orbit).

Thanks folks - and to answer a couple of questions:

1) The sitemeter shows average traffic at aroudn 4500 visits per day, but the actual server logs place it at around 8000 - 9000 visits a day. I'm not sure why the discrepency exists, but it's been noticed by others, too.

2) Yes, I just accepted my first ad. I held out for a long time.

Kate:

I'm sure you've considered this, but does the sitemeter count only unique IPs?

Hi Kate,

57 MWM retired in Oakbank, MB just outside of Winnipeg. My first computer was an Apple IIc.

ALL CBC programming was banned in this household about 5 years ago. We don't watch TV news except for Fox.

I subscribe to the Winnipeg Free Press (for local news) and to NP online and NRO online. I also read CNEWS online and several of the Sun columnists across the country.

The WFP does a pretty good job with local news. They have some excellent conservative columnists but the overall slant is liberal-left. I don't trust their political coverage.

Actually, it was SDA that got me reading blogs when I retired in May. I read about 15 blogs daily, but SDA stands out as a top blog.

This is a bit off-topic but I have also commented on PTBC and was thinking that Joel's 'Forum' section could be a valuable ongoing resource for conservative ideas but was disappointed to find out today that it has been discontinued. Perhaps Joel can be persuaded to reactivate it.

My wife is really ticked with you because I could do more around the house if I didn't spend so much time reading blogs!

Google "sitemeter server log difference". You'll find some answers.

Just last night I was reading the Langley Politics Blogg(cause I live in Langley) and I made a comment on the Lieberanos and referred to the Abotec Affair. Another reader asked "what is the Abotec Affair" I explianed it a little and sent him(her) off to the appropriate addy for all the info. And I'm sure a number of other readers also looked at it as well.

That,to me, is the power of the internet.

Horny Toad

58 and counting.

Hello pardner, this blogging stuff is old farts' business. But don't tell the CBC; they might decide it's no longer sexy.

Mark
Ottawa

Damn, Kate, this reminds me of an informal poll about 5 years back on the RD list. Who knew that all those hooligans were in their 40s and 50s?!!

50, WM, read SDA back when it was just a sidebar off your main site. Didn't realize it had been bloggified until Instapundit linked to you.

Cheers,

RGT

I'm 32 and you're right. My impression is that I'm a young'in in the blogosphere.

Keep up the good work, Kate!

BTW, not to put you down or anything, but you have more insight than 99% of the columnists and talking heads in this country. Certainly, more than the government in your province.

Keep up the excellent hard work Kate! you deserve to finally get some recompense, think of all the dog food! am pretty sure 'bout 1/2 of those 4500 hits are mine:) popping in and out all day.
BTW Cap't Ed linked me to you in early April of this year, been hooked ever since and have turned many people on to your site as well. FANtastic!

In football terms I am nearly one year into my fourth quarter of my first century,(75) retired 10 years ago, after forty-five years of flying. I roam through the blogs regularly as well as making occasional guest posts on the Shotgun. SDA and the Shotgun are my favourites but I follow the leads to other blogs and visit Neale News, Drudge Spector, etc. I haven't abandoned nespapers but seem to leave them half unread since getting immersed in the blogesphere. Without a Canadian version of Fox News the blogs give me the chance to see coverage of events here that isn't edited to show favourably to the Liberal/NDP alliance. Of course much of the editing is not apparent until you realize it is done by ommission.

69 year old male - twice retired. Read papers
occasionally for business section and cartoons.
Have only dialup so reading blogs is restricted but
get most of my politcal information that way.

Kate,

There are as many statistical algorithms for interpreting visits, pages, uniques and so forth as there are log file analysis programs. Each of them figure it out a little differently so the numbers are alawys different. I wouldn't think by that much though.

May want to install a second or third log analysis software to comapre with. Or, copy your log files to home and run them through a couple different programs there.

This is kind of like true confessions. Okay 46 W/F. Captain's quarter's put me on to your site. I do watch CBC just to see how they are filling the rest of the countries heads with propaganda. Liberal's can do no wrong... Steve Harper better not spit on the sidewalk, someone would be there to take a picture. My Uncle was a very well known CBC/BBC news broadcaster. I believe that in his day it was with princle and pride to report the story, not become part of it. I was raised with watching CBC. I also was raised to vote. It really pisses me off when they show all of these negative people on the news, not interested in voting, why waste the time on them?
They will do and say what ever they can against blogging, the truth always comes out. Thanks to Kate, we are finally getting to hear the truth.

I agree with you, Mary, except that I see this thread a bit more as a community of people virtually shaking hands in introduction as we prepare to address the upcomming campaign &c.

Courtesy of our publican, of course, Kate.

Because, as Wikipedia says, "The owner of a public house is known as the publican, and may be referred to as "guv" (short for guv'nor, or governor) in some parts of the country. Each pub generally has a crowd of regulars, people who drink there regularly. The pub people visit most often is called their local. In many cases, this will be the pub nearest to their home, but some people choose their local for other reasons: proximity to work, a traditional venue for their friends, the availability of real ale, or maybe just a pool table."

Thanks, guv.

54 DWM (lowest form of life in Kanada) I disconected my cable when hockey went out, bought a set of rabbit ears to watch Grey Cup,the only newspaper I buy sometimes is Barons,I read about 6 blogs daily starting with SDA.I'm basicaly a technopeasant.

47 year old SWM, Army Reserve officer, and provincial gov't employee.

I expected to be computer illiterate until the CF put me into a 2 yr computer project in Ottawa 15 years ago. Favorite blogs, along with SDA, are LGF and ejectejecteject.com (You have to read the article 'Tribes'). USS Cluless was the first blog I ever followed, but sadly, the writer became frustrated with the political part of his blog and stopped writing those articles.

MSM is definetly scared of blogs, it forces them to be accountable.

20 year old male, i read SDA as well as a number of other blogs ~1/2 dozen, and only read the free press because it's the only newspaper my remote place of employ receives...and only then to see what the Liberals are saying for the day.

Ahh, it warms my heart to see a 20-year old in the RAC, VE4JHJ. Keep up the good work, lad.

I'm 49 years old. Ouch!
Kate is great!
Keep up the great work!

Yup. 35 here and no college degree. Heh.

And I fit right into this guy's blind spot too. Another 54 year old (for a couple more weeks) who depends on blogs for my access to news. It makes me slightly better informed than my wee wifey, who depends mostly on talk radio and sometimes actually even the MSM.

As for those "tech savvy twenty year olds", I was modifying my computers with a soldering iron before they were born.

25, and still a student.
I came to blogs when I was studying the MSM during my undergrad degree. I wrote my thesis on the corruption and malaise in the MSM and searched for ways to get the public more engaged and well informed. Guess what kept coming up...blogs! I've been reading various blogs since then, but once I found SDA, I've been coming here everyday ever since.
If anyone wants a good read, try "Power and Betrayal in the Canadian Media" by David Taras. Really brings home much of what is said here.

55 year old Texan-by-choice. I read 15 to 20 blogs daily keeping an eye on the US, the EU and Canadian liberals! I follow the MSM and get the other side (and sides not even shown) from blogs. It's really the stuff the MSM skips that interests me the most.

I'm 50, suburban, professional, and deeply appreciative of how the internet has allowed me to bypass MSM bias and dishonesty.

As for Chris Waddell, well, he IS a professor of journalism, so it's not surprising that he spouts nonsense.

Hmmm... I'm a 27... tech savy... and a political blogger. Doh!

I am female, age 69, and have been reading the newspapers, and blogs when they came along, online for the past seven years. I moved to a rural area with no newspaper delivery. I'm glad it happened. Now I know for sure how badly news is written and slanted. I knew before that it was but thought I could get some type of middle area by reading more than one paper or news magazine. I am also a c-span junkie so I realized that sound bites were not what was really happening. It is so nice to have blogs that lead you to the real transcripts, photos, and all the different viewpoints. I feel I can make a better determination on what is actually the truth!

I am 51 and have an MA. I read blogs because the mass media is either extremely biased (more like propaganda) or runs with not-that-important stories (such as missing teens) as if they are the most important stories in the country. Just sick of that crap. I am so thankful for the blogs and the internet. I hardly watch FOX anymore -- even they are too driven with sensationalism just to get greater viewership share.

I'm self-employed, female and 42. So there!

I'm 36, have my own little blog. If my traffic is any indication, I get surges around lunch time and dinner time and then one around 10-11 p.m. My readership is a mix, predominantly female ages 30 to 60. I am a huge blog reader and get my news almost exclusively from the web. It is easier to fact check stories immediately. What a relief to not have to watch some bug-eyed blond or popmpous middle aged blowhard feign concern or dismay over events and just learn about them.

This is almost llike a 12 step program (LOL).

Actually I like the statistics you are compiling. They show that the people who read blogs are as diverse as the population and as widespread.

I am 65, retired, living in (unfortunately) NYC, trend conservative in most ways. I have not willingly read a newspaper for several years. My last three were the Boston Globe, the NY Times and the Washington Post. That was not good for my blood pressure (thank God I tend to have slightly low BP). Then I discovered blogs and between the quotes and references to the media and the comments by people who really do know what they are talking about I have found no reason to read the papers since. I can find my favorite cartoons on line and I also find that by reading the military blogs and the blogs written by the Iraqis I am getting a much better idea of what is going on in the world. Keep up the good work.

One last thing. Canada, please come to your senses and vote down the Liberals. The world would be a far better place then.

American white male, about to hit Presidential-eligibility age. I only occasionally bother with the MSM for current events anymore. Their PC-bias itself isn't so much bothersome to me as their lame attempt to pass their product off as objective. At least bloggers make no effort to disguise their leanings, mainly because they have no good reason to do so. The blogosphere also can be counted on to cover any number and manner of stories that the MSM doesn't give anywhere near the level of coverage it deserves. (French riots, anyone?) Last, but not least, unlike the MSM, most bloggers I've read (not to mention their commentators) even manage to inject their own sense of humor into the stories they cover.

I am 55 and first began reading blogs after the Mapes/Rather fiasco last year. Bloggers did a fantastic job of debunking that story1 Keep up the good work Kate. I haven't watched msm in a year.

When they are not calling us tech savvy 20 year olds they are saying we are old guys who blog instead of yelling at the TV. I'll go with the former despite the fact I actually am old enough to be the latter.

MSM does not get blogs. But people like Gunter, Wells, Cosh, Coyne and, weirdly enough, Antonia Zerbasis at the Star do.

Folks as clueless as the Aspers will never get blogs; but that does not mean that a lot of rather smarter people are going to miss the point too.

We keep on writing and, collectively, alter the media landscape. Whether MSM likes it or not/

At 66 years of age I consider it a complement to be considered a 20 something technocrat. I get 60% of my news from bolggers and 40% from Fox news.

I do not listen to talking points and consider myself to be well informed on all sides of issues.

I am 65, a university professor,
and I check your blog several times a day.
I get all my news from the internet.
The only newspaper I read is the National Post
but only for their columnists.
I skip the news items
because by the time I get the paper
I know all everything already.

This line from the prof was laughable:

"He adds some of the more effective blogs, especially in the United States, have reached mass audiences - but it's because reporters from mainstream media pick up on a blog posting."

Our blog has had posts that have been picked up by folks in the MSM from time to time and we were also prominently featured in an editorial in one of the local papers here in Minneapolis/St. Paul. The impact of such MSM attention on traffic was trivial. You get far more attention and reach many more readers when you get a link from one of the big time bloggers like Instapundit, Hugh Hewitt, Power Line, etc. than you ever do from the MSM.

I think I'm the youngin' here. I'm 16 and female. I got into the blog world after stumbling upon Captains Quarters during the Gomery Commission. I've since discovered SDA and other good blogs. Keep up the great work Kate!

Hi all,...46 here,been a faithful reader for a year.I now see things in a whole new light.Love ya Kate.I have an ex liberal MP as family member , and a couple of others working on policy's for the povincial Gov't.Needless to say, I'm always told to shut up and be nice,... much like us poor sods.Never again will they pull the wool over my eyes.

I turn 46 next week and I'm male so that puts me pretty squarely in your demographic. On the other hand, my wife (a year younger, female, and much better looking) is also a big blog reader. My father started working with computers before I was born (yes, they've changed a bit since then). When my family bought its first computer in 1976, I was in High School. I've been working with computers since then. That's almost 30 years. The current "crop" of twenty-somethings weren't even born when I started. Looking at the comments entered, I'm not the oldest one here, by any means.

As for this:

"People are not coming home from work at night and deciding they have to read 10 or 12 blogs before dinner in the same way they may read the newspaper or sit down to watch the news."

I don't get a paper-based newspaper. Haven't for years. Since August (when we moved) we haven't had television (and it's surprising how nice that is once you get used to it). I do, however, read the following daily (or nearly so) - but not before dinner. I read after my daughter is in bed:
* SDA (or I wouldn't be here, duh)
* PowerLine
* Hugh Hewitt
* Radio Blogger
* Michelle Malkin
* Captain's Quarters
* ScrappleFace and Day by Day (the comics section of my "newspaper")

I also skim or read or at least visit about a dozen others now and then (call it my Sunday edition) - Big Lizards, Strange Women Lying in Ponds, Mark D. Roberts, Groklaw, SlashDot, Christianity Today, Patterico, Daily Demarche, Lileks' Bleat and Back Fence, etc.

Since I also follow many of the links and read articles and other blogs linked to, I get a pretty good idea of what's going on around the world. Although we have a (free) local paper, the Gazette, they haven't found us since our move. But it's available online and that's where we read it. I never even go to the big papers unless I'm following a link in a blog.

kate! You're n the CBC website!

http://www.cbc.ca/canadavotes/analysiscommentary/blogreport.html

I have two blogs myself, one a personal journal mostly private or for family and friends and one a more public reading and writing journal. Just have to weigh in on this one - I am 56 going on 57 and female. More and more, I am getting perspective on many issues from blogs.