I can’t tell you how cool it is to see journalists writing about the blogosphere, even the ones who don’t “get” it. Still relatively new, blogging is something I enjoy doing and writing about. My article on the Rathergate bloggers and their contributions is only the beginning of the sort of writing I want to do. I will be contacting the Easongate bloggers pretty soon, particularly those who haven’t received a lot of attention.
During events like Easongate, smaller and medium blogs don’t get the attention they deserve from mainstream media. I include myself in this category, but I was pleased to be contacted by a reporter from the Wall Street Journal yesterday about the Eason Jordan scandal. I was stunned, actually. The reporter was a woman, so my guess is that she was looking for something other than the usual white males. The story is tentative, but I’ll let you know if/when it comes out.
I volunteer to take up the slack and cover the smaller bloggers. The high-profile ones don’t have anything to worry about, so I’ll let mainstream media handle them. I also want to be the go-to blogger when a reporter wants to know who the smaller bloggers are and provide a sort of Who’s Who in the blogosphere in general.
The Conservative Political Action Conference is this week (already?), and I’m just as excited to meet and blog about the bloggers as I am the speakers. I hope to interview several speakers, but I also have a few bloggers in mind, too.
Many bloggers don’t like to blog about blogging. They’d rather cover the issues of the day or something else they find interesting. I tried to carry on the I-don’t-like-blogging-about-blogging charade for a while, but I can’t suppress it. 
So in addition to blogging about politics and faith, I will blog and write about bloggers. I appreciate the news tips you send me, but I also want “blog tips.” For instance, who do you think is an underrated blogger? Who is overrated?
Has your favorite blogger disappeared with no explanation? Is he/she suddenly more prolific? What ignited the fire or aroused the passion?
Some bloggers specialize and become experts in a particular subject area(s). What are some of the most interesting and/or unusual blog niches in the blogosphere?
Addendum: I will be developing an article based on the responses I received to this post.
Update (8:51 p.m.): Do know a blogger named Doc Rampage? I “met” Doc back when I first started blogging over at Blogger. It’s funny how November 2003 seems so long ago. Go check out Doc’s site, and tell him I sent you. 
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I blog about blogging, therefore I am. How can a blogger not blog about blogging? What would be the point?
La Shawn, you have a number of very good ideas in this post. I like the idea of the ‘go-to blogger’ that will be a practical help for reporters & a way to expose blogs in the smaller & medium size range. As a blogger I am always interested in those blogs, but don’t always know about them.
Your idea about finding bloggers who are knowledgeable in particular subjects areas is of course of particular interest to me. I am intersted in politics & faith as well, but my blog focus is fine arts. This is a niche which is just getting up & running & will have a somewhat different ‘face’ from political blogs.
These new ideas will add zest & spice to your blog. I look forward to watching it grow, as I know it will.
This is a very interesting idea, La Shawn. Many of us smaller bloggers occasionally gripe about not getting attention, but honestly I think we’re glad and thankful for the faithful readers we have (who usually tend to be the type of quality readers a blogger wants anyway). I’m very interested in seeing how this goes for you and for the bloggers you highlight.
By the way, I don’t think Simpletracks is working for me. I keep getting some unrecognized error and Mr. Kelsey doesn’t seem to be responding to comments.
Anyway, I’ve got a post with a link to you here.
LaShawn, I blog to get writing practice, mainly. That’s my motivation. Recognition, although nice to get, is not really what keeps me going. I’m sure many feel likewise.
Personally I think that is a great idea. Truthfully it was the MSM that inspired me to blog in the first place. It was frustrating as a conservative to see the rather biased manner in which they would report some stories and bury or trivialize others to fit with a certain ideological viewpoint. It’s still somewhat amazing to me that there are so many glaring factual and historical errors printed and publicized every day in the MSM and presented as fact.
The blog I currently write for is politically oriented, were fairly new so we don’t have a large readership yet but hopefully in time we’ll grow.
I’d invite you to stop by and take a look, you can find us at http://www.civilissues.com.
Stepdad
There’s been a lot of commentary in print media about the “blogswarm” and how this “lynch mob” mentality has unfairly taken down Eason Jordan, Dan Rather, etc. How about a story on the good things bloggers try to do. For example, right now some 33 bloggers (me included) are involved in a “blogburst” trying to bring attention to the Terri Schiavo case. We’re trying to get 100 bloggers involved. Try Hyscience and ProLifeBlogs for background.
The Old Media seems to be trying to demonize the bloggers, this may be the material needed to dispute that.
It’s not just an interesting idea, it’s a generous one as well – as your blog is growing, and you yourself become more prominent, you are seeking to “give something back” to the community that is bringing you such a measure of success. I applaud your instinct. Class act, kid.
Vox Day (one of the columnists for WorldNetDaily) said that Creative Labs is looking into developing a “video blogs” technology. It could become the new TV! I’d love to see you in person on a VideoBlog!
Hi LaShawn,
Love your blog. To address some of the favorite blogs.
http://caosblog.com/ I absolutely love Cao’s work.
http://carolliebau.blogspot.com/ Caroll Platt Liebeau is always insightful.
and finally not sure if she is sick, or tied up with finals but Lorraine at The American Lady always blew me away with her insights.
http://americanlady.blogspot.com/
Hope this is some of what you were looking for. I am not sure how I ever survived before blogs.
Ron
Sounds like you’ve identified a niche that needs servicing. Atta girl!!!
What are some niche blogs? Here’s the intro to one:
Normal hearing…something that is taken for granted by the majority of people. With God-given talent, cochlear implants bring forth the miracle of hearing for the profoundly deaf. My hearing is three weeks old, I’m just a baby in understanding the spoken word without assistance from lip-reading. If I read the word on a page or on a person’s lips it becomes very easy. If the words are spoken, and I have no visual contact, my brain struggles to keep up.
People ask me if I’m hearing anything. Duh, yes I do. It is like asking a Chinese national if they hear the English language. Yes they do, but it doesn’t make sense. Visual language is my language, and the spoken language doesn’t make complete sense yet…but it is coming. I blog on this development of the spoken language and correctly identifying this world of sound. This incrediable journey is found at http://www.roaringlamb.blogs.com
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