If by some chance you're still not convinced that bloggers are having a big impact on public opinion, I invite you to check out this must read article tonight on the Poynter Institute web site (a respected journalism think tank).
Poynter reports...
About 20 percent of readers told a national group of newspaper editors that they read blogs at least sometimes, if not regularly. The responses were gathered in an online survey by the Associated Press Managing Editors' National Credibility Roundtables Project. The survey targeted the most interactive of newspaper users. This compares with a recent study by the Pew Internet and American Life Project, which measured blogging's readership at about 11 percent of overall U.S. Internet usersReaders who find blogs important say the online writers discuss stories mainstream journalists ignore, and are eager to question the decisions news networks make. They recognize the fallibilities that go along with blogging, but say those drawbacks are balanced out by openness, interactivity, and a communal nature that helps honesty rise to the top.
Sure 20% sounds small (and the balanced Poynter story notes this). But in my view the numbers don't matter. What does is the that the folks who are reading blogs are influencers who, as Seth Godin would say, sneeze their wisdom onto others. This passage alone from the Poynter story should make anyone in PR pause and think about what our beloved profession will look like in a year ...
Journalists aren't ignoring bloggers any more; neither are they just covering them as a trend story. They're citing them, fighting with them, and talking about what they're saying.
That's quite a powerful statement.
