For those of you interested in political blogging -- and who among my readers isn't? -- it's worth checking out Ben Carlson's new article on the professionalization of online political commentary. I had a long talk with Ben about the piece, and he was kind enough to quote me in it. Any day where I’m quoted alongside Nick Carr, Ezra Klein, and Matthew Yglesias (who might be my favorite political blogger) is a good day.My lines: "The era when political comment on the Web is dominated by solo bloggers writing for free is gone," and “There is a difference between speaking and being heard.” The first quote comes from the article I presented at Penn’s Democracy Citizenship and Constitutionalism seminar this spring, titled “The Closing of the Frontier: Political Blogs, the 2008 Election, and the Online Public Sphere.” Click on the title to read the full piece. The second quote comes from my book, which of course you should all buy and read if you haven’t already.