Michelle Malkin looks at the mobility of blogs.

She takes a ‘lesser known’ US blogger to task for complaining that blogs are seling out as they comercialize. The former blogger has an op-ed in the LA Times.

It was intoxicating while it lasted, as was the sense of community I found with my readers. At the peak of Whiskey Bar’s popularity, I could count on receiving 100 or more comments about each post — articulate, querulous and sometimes profane voices from the Internet hinterland.

Recently, however, I’ve watched the commercialization of this culture of dissent with growing unease. When I recently decided to take a long break from blogging, it was for a mix of personal and philosophical reasons. But the direction the blogosphere is going makes me wonder whether I’ll ever go back.

Even as it collectively achieves celebrity status for its anti-establishment views, blogging is already being domesticated by its success. What began as a spontaneous eruption of populist creativity is on the verge of being absorbed by the media-industrial complex it claims to despise.

In the process, a charmed circle of bloggers — those glib enough and ideologically safe enough to fit within the conventional media punditocracy — is gaining larger audiences and greater influence. But the passion and energy that made blogging such a potent alternative to the corporate-owned media are in danger of being lost, or driven back to the outer fringes of the Internet.

I think he is correct that the US media will treat the A list as if it is the whole blogosphere. But why would that be a surprise? Malkin doesn’t quite agree with his discontent.

In Billmon’s eyes, the blogosphere is an inegalitarian place, with little opportunity for new blogs to break into the “charmed circle” of high-traffic sites that have sold out in pursuit of advertising dollars. I am not familiar with Billmon’s writings, but I get the sense that he (or she) probably feels the same way about economic opportunity in the U.S.

How well does this pessimistic view of the blogosphere align with reality? Is mobility really as limited as Billmon suggests?

In fairness to everyone mentioned, this is about political blogs.
Last year, 9 of the top 10 (hits) were US pundits. The other was Tim Blair, an Australian who covers US politics.

Since then, the list has changed. To repeat myself, why should that be a surprise?
They are still US pundits. I don’t see any non-pundit, none US blogs on the latest list. It is rating one section of blogging which by nature is a group that wants and needs opportunity and attention domestically. By what they cover, they grab the their definition of a brass ring, especially in an election year.
I think the world of pundits works from the inside out. And for many of them, (like god-blogs and teenagers) their world stops at their opinion and at their geographical border. That’s fine, it is what they are about. The fact I might think just covering US politics is a bit short-sighted, doesn’t make that true for the pundits intent on the hits. If I want a spike in hits, I’ll mention Brittney Spears, Micheal Jackson, sex and Republicans, or George W. Bush’s faith. That being said, domestic pundits provide content their audiences want. No blog runs on empty.

Many bloggers including Hawkins think that the mainstream media noticing blogs and utilizing them is a good thing…the rest of the fish in the pond benefit, yada yada. Perhaps. Knowing the benefit I get from reading other blogs, I’d like more people to know this medium is here so they can enjoy it. Media draws attention. That can be both a useful and unfruitful thing.

This tit-for-tat isn’t new, there are points the op-ed and Malkin make that can resonate with anyone who glances at the “A” list. Blogging is not an either/or proposition. Grassroots does not equal Counterculture. Neither does mainstream=success. Economic feasibility doesn’t=sell-out.
The US has the most computers, the most bloggers, and a drive toward commercial success. Pundits make the most noise. And that is where the attention and the money will be.

For millions of other bloggers that is not the focus and measure of what they do. And that is what makes the blogosphere so interesting.