Andrew Marte

Andrew Marte is a media blogger and critic, who currently recides in Iowa.

When word got out that Maureen Dowd accidentally published part of Josh Marshall’s blog under her own name, more than one blogger reacted with glee. It was aninadvertent error, but a satisfying one nevertheless. After all, aren’t bloggers supposed to be the mainstream media parasites?

No—Dowd’s accident is yet another sign of how traditional media outlets are increasingly taking cues from the reporters who populate the blogosphere. Contrary to popular mythology, not everyone in the mainstream media has been loath to admit this.

This symbiosis has been a long time coming. But it’s increasingly evident every day as Internet-based reporters are increasingly setting priorities for the national news agenda. Greg Sargent lauded Murray Waas , an independent web reporter, for unearthing the truth about the outing of Valerie Plame and prodding the mainstream media onward in 2006. Jay Rosen crowned Waas the “Woodward of now,” explaining that the actual “Woodward of now,” Bob Woodward, had somehow missed the story