Personality journalism

The resignation of blogger David Weigel from the Washington Post has the commentariate in an uproar: Was the Washington Post fair to accept his resignation (de facto firing)? Should fishbowlDC have published emails written on a listserv that wasn't meant to be public? What is the role of a blogger versus a "normal" columnist?

To me, this is the predictable consequence of the celebrification of journalism, as papers looking to increase traffic turn to personalities (brand-name journalists) who are able to rise up through the fractured mediascape. In this case, a well-known libertarian writer was caught sending untoward messages about well-known conservative commentators on a server used by well-known liberal commentators. In a media world context, this was a celebrity cat fight, with name brands facing off in the newest electronic bubble.

Expect it to be a trend.