Several media outlets have been making a bit of noise about how conservative and GOP efforts seem to be lacking online as compared to folks on the other side of the political aisle. However, an article at the Wall Street Journal (free link) suggests that conservatives might be finding their online voice.
Political activism on the Internet — and in the so-called blogosphere, in particular — has long been considered a liberal stronghold. But conservative bloggers show increasing signs of their own coming of age.
They took a major leap forward by playing a central role in scuttling the Senate immigration bill. Meanwhile, many of the most popular talk-radio hosts are now posting on blogs, and the frequent collaboration of the two media is creating a unified conservative voice that is likely to be an important factor in the 2008 elections.
One example: Fred Thompson, the actor and former Tennessee senator, was posting his ABC Radio commentaries and other opinion pieces on popular conservative opinion sites for several months before he took the first steps toward a White House run.
The also uses the defeat of the immigration bill as the telling example of how conservative bloggers and radio talk show hosts are learning to work together, with bloggers and their minions keeping tabs on details of the bills’ developments and stats relevant to the debate, and talk shows receiving those folks periodically to keep the horde outside the blogosphere updated.
So, to bring us up to speed — for years, conservatives had an advantage in “popular media” through their dominance of the talk radio medium. In recent years, while progressives have failed to ease the imbalance in that medium, they have played to the interest of their base via internet media and broadcast quasi-news programs (i.e., The Daily Show). Now the right is bringing the pendulum back by integrating the internet and talk radio.
I’m on the fence as to whether the left’s next move will rely on another form of new media, or if a liberal equivalent of Rush Limbaugh will finally emerge, either in broadcast form, or via wireless broadband finally achieving critical mass.