Increased readership brought advertisers, and bloggers who made a name for themselves on the web attracted freelance writing assignments from newspapers and magazines. Will Leitch, the editor of Deadspin who is considered a pioneer in sports blogging, recently announced that he was moving to New York magazine.
"We're trying to make money on this," said A.J. Daulerio, a senior writer for Deadspin. "Without going completely porn, the best way to do that is to add a more journalistic element."
Which can mean taking fewer chances.
"It's the difference between living in a dorm room you can trash and buying your own home," said Niles, a former editor of USC's discontinued Online Journalism Review. "You say, 'I want to live here a while, so I have to treat this with respect.' "
There is an element of irony, blogs adopting journalistic conventions as newspapers try to entice young readers with Internet-like edginess, the sides inching toward what McIntyre called "a sketchy middle ground."
The issue of bloggers and fairness came to a boil recently when Leitch appeared on a television show with author and Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Buzz Bissinger. The discussion quickly degenerated as Bissinger launched into a obscene attack on blogs, accusing them of "cruelty," "journalistic dishonesty" and "the complete dumbing-down of our society."
His outburst became the talk of the Internet, not to mention a popular YouTube clip, angering the web crowd. But as the dust settled, a funny thing happened.
"The initial reaction was 'Buzz is a lunatic,' " McIntyre said. "After that, people calmed down, listened to what he said and thought, 'You know, maybe we should clean up our act a little bit.' "
When the rumor about Bryant broke, traditional media outlets steered clear. The Times website included several reader comments about the issue and, on May 29, a link to more information on another site.
Meanwhile, Deadspin posted a cautious Bryant item and the Big Lead referenced "these post-Buzz times, where more than a handful of rascals lay in the bushes and patiently wait for you to get something wrong." FanHouse contemplated the nature of blogging.
"Bissinger allowed us to write a few navel-gazing posts that we wouldn't have written before," said John Ness, senior producer for the site.
