Fresh on the heels of the controversial Lileks piece this morning, Jeff Jarvis has a long ode to Glenn Reynolds on the occasion of his second anniversary. A snippet:
His unique audience is significant. At its height, during the war, Instapundit had 1.6 million in its audience; that’s the circulation of the magazine I created, Entertainment Weekly. It took EW 10 years to reach that level (and a $200 million investment!!). It took Glenn less two years and a a few grand. Of course, Instapundit is free and magazines cost money and so the comparison on the basis of popularity is unfair. But the comparison on the basis of influence is quite fair.
Or look at the numbers another way: That size of audience would make Instapundit the third biggest newspaper in America, beating out the NY Times. Again, the comparison is unfair (newspapers get that circulation every day; he gets it over a month). But still, the point is the same: Instapundit is an influence. So are other weblogs. So are weblogs as a whole.
Just yesterday, I had a pleasant lunch with a magazine editor who could not be talked into doing a story on weblogs. A few newpaper-editor friends of mine make fun of me for blogging and poo-poo the phenom.At your peril, folks, at your peril.
The truth is that weblogs are an influence to be reckoned with.
No, Instapundit and even weblogs as a whole do not reach a huge percentage of the population… yet. But the next time you hear someone say that answer with this: Weblogs do reach just as big an audience as most magazines and most newspapers.
And they reach a powerful audience; why else are presidential candidates rushing to blog themselves?
(Hat tip: WizBang!)
