Paul Hayes, managing director of London's Times Newspapers, told an audience at the Internet World gathering there this week that while bloggers currently possess a certain haute aura, the balance of
power will inevitably shift back to newspapers because they are in the business of conveying impartial information, not just opinion. The best bloggers--the true stars--will be linked to established
newspapers because that natural alliance makes sense for both of them. "Millions of blogs have sprung up over the last year, but a cursory search shows that the majority of their information sources
lead back to mainstream media," Hayes said in London. "The bloggers are seeking or delivering insight, but what they need is accurate information on whatever subject they're interested in. Time and
again, bloggers draw their readers' attention to what they have read in papers. Blogs will be a continuing part of content output, but only a relative few will be read beyond the narrowest of
audiences. Most of them will disappear unnoticed, and frankly unmissed by the world." Except, that is, the branded/celebrity bloggers and the true best of breed, whom Hayes calls the "brilliant
bloggers." One he cited: "Baghdad Burning," by a young Iraqi woman.
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