Dan Mitchell of The New York Times is referencing the blogosphere in his new column, What’s Online. If The New York Times is not the establishment, who is. Yes, they have had their hiccups along the way, but the blogosphere finding regular representation in The New York Times is HUGE not only because it gives an added layer of legitimacy to the blogosphere but because it will yet again “raise the game”. After all, it will be an informal honor for bloggers to be referenced there. (I suppose there is a possibility that questionable blogs might be ridiculed in Dan’s column, but I doubt that will be the thrust.)

What really impressed me was Dan’s willingness to be objective even to the point of airing a view that is hardly favorable to the establishment journalists of The New York Times itself:

A reporter for The New York Times, she writes, “is just a blogger who happened to attend college; impress some bosses with his or her talent; get some training through experience – and possibly (though certainly not always) journalism school; and receive a podium for his or her pains.”

The “she”, according to Dan, is Julie Hilden of findlaw.com.

For the lawyers and law firms I serve, this New York Times initiative further legitimizes and credentializes the notion of blogging (beyond some screwy thing a few weirdoes are doing that will soon fade into oblivion). I will continue to strongly encourage my clients to consider appropriate blogs, but now with enhanced credibility for the idea.

For you folks in Australia who will be attending the World Masters in August, I intend to include in my keynote some arguments and illustrations of how competitive advantage can be the reward for getting into the blogosphere while it is still an exciting medium.

(Full credit to Steve Rubel at Micro Persuasion for posting first on this and bringing it to my attention. If you are not already subscribed to his blog, you are in the minority. His blog is a beacon.)