After a very rapid start in naming the cabinet, and a few embarrassing setbacks due (apparently) to inadequate vetting, the Obama White House settled into a much slower mode, to the extent that lack of appointees in key spots sometimes became an issue of effectiveness.
For example at Treasury, at the time of the big flap over AIG bonuses in mid-March (not to mention a very full plate of other matters to deal with), only two of 18 senior positions had been confirmed (Secretary Geithner himself and an Under Secretary held over from the Bush administration). Candidates had not even been announced for most of the other positions, though shortly afterward, on March 23, two more senior appointments were announced, and on March 28 still others were named.
With so much to be done by government, we might hope for a quicker pace to these appointments, but that's not my main point today; rather, it's a moment of praise for the "traditional" media. Tracking government appointments was difficult in the past because of spotty coverage, but it's much easier now, thanks to the Washington Post's authoritative on-line Head Count feature. That was the source of the info above regarding the Treasury Department.
This is a small example of the sort of useful reporting that a brick-and-mortar newspaper with a fact-checking staff can produce better than anonymous on-line sources. The established press has a reputation to maintain, which plays directly into its ability to continue selling papers/subscriptions. Without a product, a more anonymous website lacks this incentive. The result is that "traditional" media have the edge, in the form of a higher degree of confidence for the reader.
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