But in the blog world, many (most) blogs are built around independent, individual commentators, whose entire livelihood may depend upon the revenue they can generate from what they, personally write.  Where a larger blog can attract loyal "guest" bloggers whose own contributions are also valuable, this expands the appeal, but rarely are these guests financially compensated directly by the blog's ads or other revenue sources.  

How, then, is the blog model (particularly in the political arena) to sustain itself in the long run?  There have already been a number of mini-scandals over major blogs running (or pulling) ads which have created perceived conflicts of interest.  What happens when we hit the next big political cycle (more likely 2008 than 2006), and major campaigns are prepared to drop thousands, even 10s of thousands of dollars on key political blogs to try to advance their candidates' causes?  There may well be many who remain "pure" as Booman clearly intends, but many others will be very tempted to accept a quid pro quo, especially where the candidate may be already aligned with their viewpoint.  And even if the "front page" blogger doesn't touch cash-for-commentary, how is anyone to know which "guest" bloggers or diarists might be "bought"?

It's worth keeping in mind that this is far from a "new" issue.  Political journalism of the 19th and early 20th century was much more of the nature of pay-for-punditry than the "independent" model that we've come to treat as standard.  The political parties were closely affiliated with most of the major newspapers, and it was often impossible to determine what was "pure" commentary from the spouting of the party line.  I expect that the blogosphere will increasingly resemble that model, in the commercial sphere as well, as the potential impact of on-line commentary continues to rise.  Perhaps a few well-established independent blogs will somehow manage to remain entirely above the fray, but I worry that this medium will struggle mightily to maintain the sense of relative innocence that we enjoy today.

So long ago, Was it in a dream, was it just a dream? -- John Lennon