the news media are no longer the gatekeepers of political knowledge. Gone are the days when they get to decide what is and isn't "newsworthy."

The Swiftboat Vets can publish their commercials to the Internet if conventional TV stations refuse to sell them airtime. Between talk radio and the blogosphere, millions of people will hear and see those ads regardless of what the news media tries to filter. A couple weeks after the Swiftboat Vets released their first ad, there was a poll that claimed over 50% of the people had seen it even though it had only been shown in a handful of markets.

For better or worse, the times are a'changing. Could you imagine any of this happening 10-15 years ago?