Newspaper establishment pillar Bill Kovach in the Louisville Courier-Journal:

I think blogging is one of the great advances in democratizing speech with all the pitfalls and values any expansion of unrestrained speech can have. I believe it is one of the tools MSM [MainStreamMedia] should embrace to make themselves more transparent and create the continuing dialogue journalists and the public must have.

I check out a lot of blogs including, not in any order: Instapundit, LA Observed, Buzz Machine, Power Line, Press Think, RealClear Politics, Daily Kos, The Volokh Conspiracy, etc., etc.

I really don’t have a favorite and sample something new every time I have a chance.

Some good points made here: 

Chicago Tribune Labels Very Liberal Congressman ‘Mainstream Democrat’
Posted by Michael M. Bates on January 1, 2006 – 13:28.
In today’s front page story on Bobby Rush, “Pastor Rush stirs hope, skeptics in Englewood,” the Chicago Tribune describes the Illinois Democrat as a “former militant Black Panther turned mainstream Democratic congressman.” One wonders what the Tribune considers mainstream.

Rush’s voting record in Congress, as measured by assorted special interest groups, reflects little in the way of moderation. In their most recent evaluations, for example, the National Abortion Reproductive Rights Action League awarded him a 100 percent rating. The National Taxpayers Union gave him a puny 11 percent while Americans for Tax Reform ranked him at 10 percent. Getting a 100 percent rating from the American Civil Liberties Union, the AFL-CIO, Americans for Democratic Action, and the National Education Association, Rush received a zero percent rating from the American Conservative Union and the National Rifle Association, and 10 percent rankings from both the American Security Council and Citizens Against Government Waste.

All in all, Bobby Rush can hardly be designated mainstream. Then again, among Democrats and the Chicago Tribune, perhaps his record is considered fairly moderate.

Chicago Tribune Labels Very Liberal Congressman ‘Mainstream Democrat’ | NewsBusters.org