The Right-Wing Media Machine Has Arrived on the Internet

[Commentary] The Left's advantage on the Internet is disappearing, as should have been expected. After all, the Right built its powerful media advantage by investing billions and billions of dollars over three-plus decades, first in magazines and various print outlets; later in national talk-radio syndicates; then in making Fox News the leading cable news network. So, it didn't take lots of smarts to figure out the Right would use its money to conquer the Internet, too. And that is what is happening. Backed by deep-pocket conservatives, the Right has poured large sums of money into its Internet assets, integrating them with other media properties, helping star right-wing bloggers get rich, and still maintaining the veneer of "populism" ­ even making sure some sites look amateurish ­ to stay attractive to rank-and-file Americans.