It’s just so fun! Because no longer are we in the days of bemoaning the right-wing media echochamber–we’re seeing the effectiveness of the progressive network-powered media system! Patrick Ruffini graces us with his analysis.

More often than not, the process goes something like this: a Daily Kos diarist posts something, which is then on Olbermann the next night. Pseudo-journalistic outfits like TPM start making phone calls, which gives the guys at Politico just enough cover to start get in on the action, making it an MSM story, embroling the targeted Republican and forcing them to respond. In Palin’s case, sick Daily Kos rumors were given enough credence to precipitate the disclosure of her daughter’s pregnancy, which itself became a pretty big national story.

The left’s latest search-and-destroy mission is against Bobby Jindal, centering on the segment in Jindal’s speech where he talked about commisserating with the late Sheriff Harry Lee about bureaucratic bungling in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

Um–btw, Mr. Ruffini–I think TPM has proven itself to be a fine and credible journalism organization. They don’t hide their political preference (it’s called transparency dude), but they have proven themselves to be accurate and have dug up important facts on stories (i.e. U.S. Attorney’s Scandal) to cement their legitimacy. They happen to be smart enough to follow leads from the millions of people who are paying attention to politics and follow-up on those leads. If not true–they don’t publish.. Simple, simple.
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List of top 30 Feminist blogs, according to linkfluence

I (unfortunately) wasn’t at the Fem 2.0 conference, but I saw a recent post about the happenings over there. A really interesting group called Linkfluence (they visually mapped the sphere of influence of progressive and conservative blogs during the election) presented on the their visual map of the feminist web and made a list of the top 30 feminist blogs (according to their methodology).
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Here’s one list ranging and ranking the top blogs of 2008 including The New Republic, Ana Marie Cox, The Daily Beast and 538.com. Do you agree? What’s missing?

Not that I watch too much TV or anything, but it was fun to not only see Arianna Huffington interviewed on The Daily Show last night, discussing “how to blog”, but it was even better to hear Jon Stewart name check Talking Points Memo and Josh Marshall. Take a look.

And then on The Colbert Report, there was a fascinating piece on the dangers of “radical knitters.” And the lovely radical knitter was viewed sitting on a park bench reading… drumroll please… Bitch Magazine! Check it out!

We are taking over!!!!

I arrived in Denver early this a.m. in preparation for The Media Consortium’s third (!) production of Live From Main Street tomorrow. (If you’re not in Denver you can catch it livestreaming at 3 p.m. PST/4 p.m. MST/5 p.m. CST/6 p.m. EST at FireDogLake, Link TV, The Uptake and many more.)

While LFMS is my main reason for being at the DNC, I’m going to spend most of the week documenting the activities of the progressive media, mainstream media, panels, events, parties, interesting people and any other fun thing I can find or attend. And from the moment I stepped off the plane–I knew I was in for something good. Practically the first thing I saw was this billboard:

Billboard from Denver Airport: from Gov. Ritter on global warming and green jobs

Why did this billboard catch my eye? Because it dovetailed EXACTLY with the lede from Adele Stan’s article “What Will the Green Economy Look Like?”, an article written in advance of LFMS.

And it didn’t end there.

When I jumped in a cab, my driver Mike started telling me about how he volunteers twice a month at the local independent radio station KGNU where he plays the music he likes and rails against Bill O’Reilly. And until two days ago, his cab had a big sign on top of it promoting “Democracy Now.” (His idea btw–not paid for by DN.) Unfortunately, his cab broke down and he’s borrowing another for the week! When he’s not driving, Mike’s is shooting a documentary about the struggles and organizing efforts of the local taxi drivers. Imagine–a hot bed of independent media right in my own taxi cab!

After arriving at the extremely cute house we rented for the week, the LFMS crew headed straight to The Big Tent, the top hub for activists and media throughout the Democratic National Convention. (LFMS is kicking off the The Big Tent tomorrow!) The Big Tent, a temporary two-story structure, has been literally built over the last few weeks and is in its final stages of construction. Check it out:

The last stages of The Big Tent's construction

As we walked from The Big Tent to a local pub for lunch, delegates and convention volunteers were already starting to swarm the streets. (We also saw a lot cops out in full gear.) And then we saw this:

The Donkey on a segway

The Elephant on a segway

Want to take a guess what these two were promoting? MSNBC Political News!

Perfect beginning to what should be an exciting, exhausting, confounding week. Stay tuned for more!