How blogging became today's new journalism

Ben Smith, Buzzfeed’s editor in chief:

Indeed, the strongest new news outlets and the most nimble elements of the old ones have also co-opted and professionalized the tools and ethos of bloggers — fast, direct publishing; an informal voice; a commitment to transparency. We’ve pulled in some of the adaptable stars of that era. And we believe those people, tools, and values can serve our unchanging commitments to immediate, well-told, fearless, compelling, and independent journalism.

Nice piece, which really clarifies that the blogosphere (and how long is it since I last wrote that word*?) of the mid-2000s is long dead, but blogging itself has inserted itself deeply into the DNA of today’s innovative web publishing.

*A quarter of a decade, as it turns out.