Let's be quite clear about the disparity of a blog and a BBS. A BBS usually has a form of censorship. Look at the HZ...there's constantly someone trying to censor someone else. Freedom of opinion is only free so long as you don't rile too many feathers. On my own blog I have both very mainstream content and content that would drive folks crazy if I posted it here. A blog guarantees a certain freedom of expression that a BBS lacks.

You yourself should be clearly aware a BBS is a community. However in the blog communities like those formed by Moulitsas with Scoop, even the members blogs are subject to censorship and elimination. So individual blogs represent a form of free speech you can hardly find elsewhere. In the old days you would have to couch your words and fit your views into something the letters to the editor would print up. (I know as I have had a number printed up over the years)

Many quasi-free speech outlets but very few unfiltered outlets. Even blogs impose certain restrictions to keep free speech within the limits of the law - which is a good thing.

The checks and balances system applies to the reporting of facts, but not truth. As Indiana Jones might say, "Archaeolgy isn't about truth but about facts. If you want to find truth take a philosophy class."

So blogs that get their facts wrong will soon lose credibility. It is very hard for a blog to get their "truth" wrong, as this depends on the vantage point of the observer.

I'm all for providing HZ members with blogs. There are some folks here who should clearly channel a portion of their views into a blog. Not for themselves, but as a service to others. Blogs don't bring in revenue (at least not until you get real big) so it is a labor of love, but one that provides incalculable rewards. International view-sharing never has been easier.

Like all media, blogs are not all equal. The politics blogs cater to certain worldview and many try to fit their content to appeal to mass consumption. A discerning reader can quickly differentiate the good writers and original views from those who are parroting party lines or other talking points. However one need not look further than CNN, BBC, MSNBC, FOX, ABC or CBS to find equally biased coverage with twisted titles and serving the same talking point agenda.

Drudge acts as personal filter for news. He also publicizes a lot of -rap that belongs in the weekly world news and airs stuff I often find objectionable. However he receives tips and info at a greater rate than many national media outlets and as such can beat the hourly news cycle.

When a blog news outlet can tap the collective diversity and international body in both view and video, then one has a new type of news outlet. A fast, developing visual medium for the world to tune in on and an alternative to waiting for the major media filtered news. There's a very good chance that it will cover newsworthy items that get completely overlooked and also provide compelling video coverage of events that normal news teams can't get to in time.

Sure, it won't appeal to everyone. But for those who want something a bit faster and without the time to fit the event into any agenda, a blog type news agency will be exactly what some will finally see as REAL news reporting.