You can always tell that when a new trend has taken on a degree of permanence because people start writing in-depth analyses said trend by reference to historical precendents.

Nico Maconald writes in 'The Register' about 'The Future of Weblogging'

There is much to celebrate in the development of Weblogging – but the discussion of it is often uncritical and un-ambitious. If Weblogging is the answer, as so many claim it is, what was the question? As with the discussion of electronic voting, there is an assumption that there barriers have been put in the way of a democratic and public activity. It follows from this view that the Internet in general, and Weblogging in particular, are conscious answers to these challenges.

But this isn’t the mid-nineteenth century, when the radical Chartists in Britain took advantage of developments in printing and the postal service to publish a newspaper for newly literate and radicalised masses. In that case the government of the time really did try to suppress their activity, by requiring newspapers to be licensed by the Post Office. Today, by contrast, New Labour actively solicits our participation in the ‘Big Conversation’

I think the question is as plain as a pancake: how do you make your authentic voice heard through an inchoate fog of establishment media, PR, spin and soundbites?

Mcdonald also makes some predictable errors:

Irrespective of its provenance, it is certainly a wonderful thing that many more people are able and have chosen to be self-publishers. However, we need to encourage more people to be journalists. Journalism involves actually interviewing people, doing thorough background research on a subject, presenting a rounded and dispassionate overview, and reasoning through substantive arguments

For me, the whole point of blogging is to get clean away from the stuffy credentialism that reinforces the notion that one must be a 'Journalist' in order to have something valid, accurate and interesting to say. Does Mr. Macdonald think that bloggers do not do interviews? Does he think that they eschew 'background research'? And if they are not reasoning through 'substantive arguments' then what other means are they using to reason?

However, he does go some way to redeeming himself a the end by proving that he does 'get it' just a little:

If it could be realised it would at least break open the small and slightly incestuous circles into which the blogerati have settled, allowing their ideas and those of the blogging masses to spread more widely. And it would break open the out-dated model of knowledge development and discussion still being peddled by the unduly smug proprietors of the fourth estate

I give him 5/10. But rather more noteworthy is the event that has clearly inspired Macdonald's musings: Bloggercon II.

BloggerCon will be reported live, and will be up there with the O’Reilly EtCon in being the most documented conference in history. As the Web site says: "BloggerCon is an unusual conference in that almost everyone participating writes publicly. So we assume that everyone present is a journalist. Every badge is a press badge."

Next year, the Big Blog Company team hope to join them (if only they could get over their 'journalist' fixation).

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