THIS TIME OF YEAR – AT 8:08 A.M. ET:  We always know when it's the last two weeks of August.  The journalism gets even sloppier than normal, and we read articles that we're sure we've read before.  We have. 

A lot of old stuff gets reworked during this period, as reporters and editors take time off or slow down, anticipating the election-year madness ahead.  Audiences are also smaller, although in some cases, like CNN or The New York Times, audiences have been smaller for so long that it's hard to notice just one more dive.  In the case of MSNBC, who cares about a decline from eight viewers to seven.  Maybe the guy went for a snack.

What I've noticed, though, is that the internet hasn't slowed down.  I think that has a great deal to do with the fact that bloggers are never really on vacation, are in closer contact with their readers than are the mainstream boys, and are part of a new, growing industry, where enthusiasm is greater.  Having been in older, fading industries, like Hollywood and book publishing, I've seen the difference.  I've never read any political blogger say that the highlight of his or her day is lunch.  In Hollywood, lunch is like going to Mecca, as long as you can get there in a Mercedes. 

I think the internet is driving the mosque story, and keeping mainstream up to date on other issues that don't take a holiday in late August – like the burgeoning Iranian military program.  One of the qualities of the internet is that it is always there, and it is relentless.  It is 12-month, 24/7 journalism.  Some of it is good, some of it definitely isn't.  But it is changing journalism.  On balance, I think it's a change for the better. 

August 23, 2010