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Most importantly, such an idea is probably the most practical solution to what will be an ongoing problem to monetizing the blogosphere. For all the hullaballoo over places like HuffPo, the essential problem is that newspapers and similar institutions will lose eyeballs to things that can’t really be monetized, not in any proper form. For instance:
Back in the day I might have spent more time with the Trib or the NYT if it wasn’t for Balkinization or the Volokh Conspiracy or Lawyers, Guns, and Money or Ill Doctrine or the hundreds of other Web sites I visit hourly, daily, weekly, or what have you. Yes: the evolutionary Andy Rooney is a hip-hop DJ in New York.
Right, the argument: By wooing those niches and giving them a cut of the action, you can give them some possibly-wanted institutional backing (and, perhaps one day, integration into institutional resources and culture, another way to win them over… photos, press passes, etc) while treating everyone to the PR and SEO magic that comes from building a network and having professionals maintain it.
