Another milestone was passed yesterday in the long march of the bloggers. For the first time a weblog writer was admitted to a White House press briefing alongside the representatives of the mainstream media. Garrett Graff of FishbowlDC blogged from the Brady briefing room in the White House itself.

It took him a week of trying for a day pass, assisted by helpful members of the conventional pres corps. When he arrived, the guards were puzzled by his lack of press accreditation, but they let him in because his name was on the list. He reports that conditions in the briefing room “leave something to be desired.”

This is a recognition of the role of blogging as an addition and an alternative to the mainstream media, and an acknowledgement of the audience and influence it increasingly commands.