Bloggers have a unique ability to put long-lasting pressure on oppressive governments, Curt Hopkins, director of the Committee to Protect Bloggers, says in a column written for CNET News.com. "Newspapers, even individual Web sites, are relatively easy to shut down," Hopkins said. "But what can't be shut down is a self-perpetuating system like the blogosphere. What our experience has shown is not that a single organization, the Committee to Protect Bloggers, is a threat to tyrants, but that blogging itself is."
Further, Hopkins sees mainstream media paying more attention to what is being discussed in the blogosphere, with a growing number of stories first appearing in blogs being picked up and followed by media giants. For the complete article, click here.