Back in the early days of blogging, a couple local bloggers used to tease me about how they were going to put me and my MSM brethren out of jobs. 

Personally, I don't see it. We MSM types are doing a perfectly good job of putting OURSELVES out of work, thank you very much. And these days, it seems like bloggers pose a more immediate threat to campaign staffers anyway. 

We've run into a spate of blogs regurgitating press releases lately. Not to mention some intrigue about which bloggers are working for which candidates. 

The connections can be a little dizzying. A few days back, we had the Pittsburgh Comet's Bram -- who volunteers for city council candidate Georgia Blotzer -- praising a post by Maria of the 2 political junkies, who has also worked for city council candidate Georgia Blotzer. And the post that earned Bram's mentiion leads off with a press release from ... city council candidate Georgia Blotzer.

Meanwhile, Matt Hogue is the campaign manager for city council candidate Anthony Coghill. And there was been a minor kerfluffle over who had really created a couple animated short films Hogue has posted attacking two candidates' mayoral challengers. 

I'm not sure why candidates can't post their own damn press releases -- don't they have their own Web sites? But beyond that, I don't care that much. I've said this before, but these are blogs, not public trusts.

Besides, there's a nice irony here. Online and elsewhere, one complaint with the MSM has been that too often, reporters just repeat talking points ... often without making any effort to get to the truth behind the claims. It's almost reassuring to see that, even if the MSM does go the way of all flesh, its most sacred traditions will continue.