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A commentator for The Wall Street Journal gets into the political blogging game, and lets readers into the brave new world

Date published: 2/19/2006

Editor's note: Phil Mella, who has written for The Wall Street Journal and other newspapers, runs a new political blog, clearcommentary.com. He agreed to answer some written questions by Viewpoints editor Dave Smalley from the perspective of someone newly in the trenches of blogging. He is based in Woodland Park, Colo.

What made you want to start a blog, and when did yours begin? How often do you write?

ot unlike my motivation for publishing in the traditional venue of newspapers, starting a blog has the potential to reach more people. I began my blog in December 2005. If a blog is to be successful, it must keep its readers interested--and, as such, it's vital to write at least twice weekly, although I make every effort to post three times a week.

The "Week in Review," which I just started, is a way to bring a sense of cohesion to the week's events, and to put them into perspective.

What is your favorite part of blogging, and your greatest obstacle?

Regardless of one's approach and content, to be successful in the blogosphere one must be relatively prolific. As such, starting my blog has made me even more disciplined in writing than I have been. The only obstacle, as with so much else in life, is time.

What do you see as the role of blogs in today's world? Do political blogs complement the traditional media, or do you see a time when blogs might replace the traditional media?

Blogs are a natural, if belated, result of the Internet. To indulge a threadbare cliche, they are the quintessentially democratic forum because the entrance fee is nominal--and yet if one has appeal, one's audience is virtually limitless.

In terms of their potential influence on traditional media, blogs fall into three distinct categories:

First are those that seek to provide advance scoops against mainstream media; they are generally more aggressive and timely, and exploit atypical sources, generally gambling in some degree on their authenticity because they are often single-source in nature. There are both conservative and liberal examples, but for reasons that will become clearer later, they tend to be the former.

Date published: 2/19/2006