Glenn Reynolds' Instapundit is nowhere near the first web log to appear on the World Wide Web but it has quickly become one of the preeminent blogs thanks to continuing spotlighting by people Howard Kurtz.
There are only two reasons for the ascendancy of Instapundit: the incredible amount of work that Reynolds manages to pour into his blog -- he updates his site in between teaching law at the University of Tennessee -- and the high level of commentary that he provides on the issues of the day. Thanks to the popularity of his blog, readers send in a stream of tips, links and letters which combined with Reynolds' seemingly relentless combing of the web and news reports results in a daily "news cast" that only peers like Andrew Sullivan can offer.
It
should be noted that as conservative-friendly as Reynolds' blog is, he's
not a conservative. In response to this web site's awarding a Conservative
Site of the Day Award (which goes to conservative web sites or those sites
that might be of interest to conservatives), Reynolds stated that he is
in fact a Whig.
Whatever the ideology, the blog in part fulfills the early promise of
the web. We were all seduced by the notion that the digital citizen would
rule the "air waves" of the World Wide Web only to learn that
like in the real world, the digital world quickly became the playground
for the AOL-Time Warners, CNNs and Disneys. Unlike those massive companies,
however, the blogger needs no equipment. Borrow a friend's computer, sign
up with a free service like Blogger and you're in business. Most people
won't be able to provide the rapid and trenchant commentary and criticism
that Reynolds does, but he does serve as an example to the rest of us.
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