TPM- Massing's Opinion Challenged

The Talking Points Memo (TPM) is highly praised by Michael Massing, author of "The News About the Internet". According to Massing, "Talking Points Memo is one of the most visited political sites on the web." TPM has a heavy political emphasis, and it is apparent with their articles pertaining to government issues and world affairs. I agree with Massing's praise, but I do not agree with some of his assumptions.

In Massing's article, he writes that before the TPM web site, the Internet had a large amount of right-wing influence. In 2005, the majority of the blogosphere was dominated by the right. The Drudge Report was in the lead, being the most visited site until TPM. The invention of the TPM site is influential because a political change occured. Massing notes that the liberal left pulled ahead on the web, and TPM is an example of that left influence.

I do not agree with Massing on that assumption. I see both liberal and conservative articles on the TPM web site. An example that I noticed was the recent blogs and articles about Fox News. The article on TPM LiveWire focused on a former Fox News contributor, and why she left the organization. CNN held a panel discussion where the tensions between the White House and the Fox organization were addressed. The comments at the bottom of the article revolved around the subject of Fox News and "declaring war". The bloggers did not seem thrilled with news organizations, and their support for Fox was limited.

These conversations between bloggers portray how the Internet allows for opinion and participation. The bloggers for this article seemed liberal, and that can make viewers think this site is aimed for a left-wing demographic. This assumption is what Massing believes, and at first I thought TPM had a left-wing appeal as well. However, I came to find out TPM aims for equality.

The previous Fox News example related to how liberals felt about the conservative organization. The article said that the former Fox News contributor was scared of Glenn Beck and left because he was "scary" and there was less debate pieces in the program. I did find a rebuttal story posted with Beck defending his language and organization. This article on TPM LiveWire shows the web site illustrating two sides of the story.

TPM has three components and they are TPMDC, TPMmuckraker, and TPMcafe. In my previous blogs, I have written about these sections and how they pertain to the web site. Massing wrote about these sections as well, and he labeled them by saying TPMDC covers the capital, TPMmuckraker does investigations, and TPMcafe features outside contributors. I agree with Massing that all of these sections help the web site do more than newspapers.

Massing says, "Political reporters have good sources but they tend to be professional sources, who are used to picking up the phone and giving tips to reporters." The Internet allows for more freedom, with a hyperlocal emphasis. I agree with Massing because people in the world should hear about political issues and events, even if it happens across the country. The access to this information is now readily available for people.

The information available on TPM is because of editor and publisher, Josh Marshall. The creation of TPM was because Marshall began blogging and freelancing on his own. Marshall is a reporter and he used to be the Washington editor of The American Prospect. His past experience helped him in creating a blog with a "breaking news" element. Marshall could attract advertisers, which gave him more money to hire staff and report news fast. TPM's readership grew, and the blog and comment sections increased.

This web site has remained constant, and my observations are still the same. The stories and news constantly changes, but the way in which it is reported is similar. I do, however, notice the political influence is not only the left, but also the right. For example, the TPM Twitter Rooms include Hill Democrats, Hill Republicans, Democratic Insiders, and Republican Insiders. TPM is open to opinion and does not hold a bias. So, my opinion has changed in that regard, but other than that it has remained the same.