In Which I Steal An Entire Post

Two reasons I like blogs:

1) They can provide more and better information that newspapers currently do. I'm not saying newspapers or magazines can't do this, just that they don't. Context is important.

2) Blogs allow for the democratization of skill in a way that I've never seen. It's pretty neat.

Ezra Klein says it much better:

Indeed, it turns out there's a large number of people who like to hear about, and be involved in, all sorts of policies. Blogs have matched them up with the technical information, experts, and primary source documents that, previously, they couldn't easily access. And this allows them to mobilize, and gain a voice in, obscure policy areas where even a bit of citizen involvement can exert a surprising amount of influence. This is why concerns that blogs will destroy political discourse are so silly. Here I am at the center of blogofascism, and the discourse is more serious, and more substantive, than anything I've ever seen in the media. When's the last time Wolf Blitzer spent an hour on the 700 megahertz spectrum auction?

This also explains why lots of big-name reporters can't seem to stand blogs (and maybe why more local reporters just seem confused and vaguely annoyed by them); it chips away at the myth that elite status is needed to understand and comment on policy & political debates. So when the idea that "blogging will destroy political discourse" is voiced, it almost always really means "blogging will destroy the privileged status all the talking heads have when it comes to political discourse."

None of this is to say that blogging is perfect, etc. etc., just that blogging can be good.

Note: It also speaks to the desire on the part of consumers for more in-depth reporting with more context.