POWER OF THREE FELT IN THE BLOGOSPHERE.

Byline: RANDY MYERS 

Contra Costa Times 

In the no-holds-barred blogosphere, every voice can be raised. But not everyone cares to listen.

Some visit blogs for updates on political chicanery, others to hear about a hot restaurant, movie, celebrity or technogadget. Even a terrible blind date can be painfully deconstructed for public consumption.

So what does it take for one person's online rants and reflections to turn into an Internet sensation? Three cyberspace giants say commitment, reliability and -- most importantly -- fresh, strong content, provide the framework for creating a blog empire.

Although Berkeley's Markos Moulitsas Zuniga, Los Angeles' Perez Hilton and Lexington, Ky.'s Drew Curtis might be all over the map when it comes to topics they skewer -- conservative politicians for Moulitsas, misbehavin' celebrities for Hilton and silly news for Curtis -- all know how to attract die-hard fan bases.

Moulitsas and Hilton identify themselves as bloggers. Curtis does not; he views his Fark.com, a site that lampoons odd news items by flagging each with zippy titles and comments, as a genre outside of blogging.

No matter the categorization, each of these entrepreneurs choreographed vibrant Web communities and did it with such panache that they now make a living off it. Other bloggers seek to do the same.

"You're seeing more and more bloggers scraping out a living," said Paul Grabowicz, UC Berkeley's director of new media. That's happening because public-relations and ad firms realize they can appeal to large audiences by advertising on social networking sites and blogs, he said.

Star bloggers zip up the Darwin food chain, Grabowicz said. "The people I see rising to the top (are the ones who) on some level have some sort of credibility."

Loudmouths without factual back-up wind up the big losers, he said. Smart and snarky bloggers with something valid to say tend to do well along with bloggers who convincingly echo what their like-minded brethren feel, he said.

Wherever Moulitsas, Hilton and Curtis fall on that spectrum, their influence and profile continues to grow. Consider:

Moulitsas and his Daily Kos site, America's most popular liberal political blog, now deploys nearly 12 contributing editors and even sells Kos T-shirts.

Hilton, the self-proclaimed "queen of all media" pops up in gossip mags, on TV and just last week shot a reality TV show pilot with Kelly Osbourne. In the works is a concert series bearing the Perez Hilton name.

And this month, Curtis launched a book tour for his "It's Not News, It's Fark: How Mass Media Tries to Pass Off Crap as News." Oh, yeah, there's also farktv.com Web site, now in its third season.

The fame still stuns the threesome, who were able to parlay hobbies into full-time gigs.

When Moulitsas, 35, launched Daily Kos in May 2002, he did it to vent his political discontent.

Now, dailykos.com receives about half-a-million unique hits daily, with powerhouse liberals such as Ted Kennedy, John Edwards and John Kerry weighing in on it. With 120,000 registered users, it commands the attention of politicians, journalists and conservative detractors. It has even spawned a spin-off independent of Moulitsas; he played no role in starting the YearlyKosConvention, which drew more than a thousand to Las Vegas in 2006.

Moulitsas' site did OK and then soared with the arrival of the Iraq war and the 2004 presidential election. Liberals flocked to Daily Kos seeking to get their stifled voices heard.

To meet the surging demand, Moulitsas, who also plays key roles in blogs for parenting, spirituality and sports, hired a project manager and handed out four modestly paid fellowships to ace bloggers, including Michael Lazzaro, a.k.a. Hunter.

"Back in 2003, nobody cared about what bloggers had to say," Lazzaro said.

In 2007, that attitude dramatically changed, with numerous liberal and conservative Web sites breaking news and influencing political debate.

If political Web sites don't make you click, toggle over to Paris instead. The daily trials and travesties of bad-girl celebs such as Paris, Britney and Lindsay are chronicled in snarky fashion on PerezHilton.com.

Blasted for booting gay celebs out of the Hollywood closet, Hilton -- aka Mario Lavandeira -- ignores critics.Competitors have tried to hog the spotlight, yet Hilton considers himself an original, in part because he hustles for his stories, spending about 17 to 18 hours hunting scoops down.

News stories that are dumb and outrageous make Curtis' day. He specializes in spotting "why is that news?" articles and posting them on his Web site.

He's second only to the Drudge Report, with about 3.5 million and 5 million people dropping in a month; the site gets 50 million page views monthly.

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