Ripples outside the pond

In 2002, Gadget-tastic Gizmodo and gossip Gawker launched, along with BlogAds and Google AdSense Ad syndicating services like these contributed to a whole new profit model complete with virulent jargon (such as "to monetize" a site).

The blogosphere orbited into the mainstream's awareness – and began to warp, erm, influence it. Pundit bloggers helped bring down (then) US Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott for racist comments. Joshu Micah Marshall led the charge in 2002. War bloggers finally attracted headline beyond “hobbyist” circles. And in 2003, Where is Raed? brought international attention to Iraqi Salam Pax (the pseudonym of Raed Jarrar): soon thereafter he publishes The Baghdad Blog book.

Romenesko, The Daily Dish and KausFiles turned up the heat on The New York Times Jayson Blair plagiarism scandal. Eventually Executive Editor Howell Raines stepped down, taking along Managing Editor Gerald Boyd. Merriam-Webster crowned “blog” word of the year in 2004, just as Wonkette snarked onto the scene. Coincidence? Read the blog...

Spring ‘05: Arianna unveiled her glamorous Huffington Post, the liberal “Internet newspaper” and aggregated blog modestly named after herself. The site soon earned the nickname “HuffPo”. It often tops rankings on Technorati and Alexa, while Th Guardian declared it the world’s most influential blog.