Solon Brochado: The whole “bloggers vs. big media” battle that’s been going on in the US is meaningless in Brazil. If someone did a survey of most-read or most-influential political blogs in Brazil, at least the first 10 would be written by mainstream media journalists.

With the current political crisis, these blogs have seen a surge in audience. In Brazil, opinion is a very rare commodity in a newspaper, that’s usually more hard news than anything. So the journalists’ blogs have become a great source of opinion and rumours coming from those who are actively involved in the whole crisis coverage.

And now, the same journalists are talking about how the Brazilian blogosphere is, at last, becoming a relevant part in the country’s news sources. Take this piece at Folha Online, for example. It is an overview of a chat with the newspaper’s Nelson de Sá, who has a weekly column called “All the Media”.

Brazilian blogosphere took shape with the crisis, says Nelson de Sá

Journalist Nelson de Sá said last thursday that the Brazilian blogosphere has taken shape with the political crisis. According to Nelson de Sá, it is possible that next year blogs will present some maturing and, as has happened in other countries, will start being part of some campaigns.

“I have the feeling that, as has happened in the recent elections in the US, United Kingdom and Iran, political blogs will seem ever more partisan - and will even, in some cases, begin to take part in the campaigns”, said Nelson de Sá, who participated in a Folha chat with 297 readers.

The journalist also adressed the media’s role in the political coverage. In Nelson de Sá’s opinion, the media is at a crossroads, where the impartiality myth, “that was alredy questionable, is in check”. “You have only to follow the American blogosphere, the most vibrant and powerful there is, to feel the change”, he said.

Frankly, I think this is all bulls**t. For starters, the Brazilian blogosphere was doing well before the crisis, thank you. It just so happens that there weren’t many political bloggers, but there have been quite a few geeks, writers and musicians keeping blogs around for some years now.

But more than that, it is just too convenient that “the Brazilian blogosphere took shape” just because traditional journalists began to have an audience for their blogs. Not that I have anything against journalists keeping blogs, being a journalism student myself. But as mainstream as blogs may become, I don’t think there’s much of a blogosphere to be praised if it is made only of the same journalists that give us the news everyday.