Why Bloggers may be imperative to keeping the Main Stream Media honest.

.....the MSM has become consolidated to the point that just a few transnational conglomerates and capital management companies control network TV, commercial radio, and most of our newspapers.

.....The current owners, he explains, care only about money, and “are sometimes genuinely perplexed to find people in their midst who do not feel beholden, first and foremost, to the shareholder.”

Bloggers are in an entirely different position: They tend to be mavericks who work for free, and operate far from the sources of power. Feeling no need to ingratiate themselves with the movers and shakers of industry and government, they simply tell it like it is from where they sit as concerned, informed citizens with diverse areas of expertise. Though they don’t often have professional training as journalists, many of them exceed professional journalistic standards, because they answer to their consciences alone rather than to corporate honchos and fund managers. We need to hear from such people, and the fact that there are more blogs out there worth reading than anyone has time to read is a hopeful sign.

This is a very timely article at a time when many of those who blog are asking "what is the point". I don't consider myself a new age Edward R. Murrow, but I do think that my small contribution, added to the voice of so many others, is a vital part of taking back control of information from corporations with preconceived agendas that encourage them to censor some stories and pump up others.