Church Spokeswoman Refers to Blogger?

kutv.com - Questions And Answers About Gov. Mitt Romney:
"Rascone: Anything else you wanted to make clear or add to what is being said in the Boston Globe story?

Farah: It would be beneficial for you to read this blog. I think they got it exactly right: http://www.article6blog.com/2006/10/19/the-boston-globe. I suspect that other bloggers and media will see this story in the same light. "

Wow, I've never seen this before. Here's an official spokesperson (of the Church no less) refering to a blog for an explanation of the Romney/Mormon/IRS issue that the Globe brought out today. This brings up a number of interesting implications:

1) Blogs have power. Expensive, professional PR departments are apparently spending time looking to the blogosphere for reaction. Getting a read on a headline like this 5 years ago was a lot harder to do.

2) Blogs are mainstream. For a PR dept. to reference a blog says a lot for our acceptance of blogs.

3) Look for blogs to continue to wield great influence in media. This is just the beginning. (Imagine what blogs are doing right now in countries with less democratic gov'ts and restricted press)

BYU steps up

Salt Lake Tribune - BYU accuses Pfizer of swiping profits, credit for Celebrex:
"The lawsuit was filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Salt Lake City against Pfizer and several of its predecessor companies after years of unsuccessful negotiations, BYU said. The suit seeks unspecified actual and punitive damages, but notes Celebrex sales have exceeded $20 billion. "

You sure don't see BYU in the news that often for intellectual property rights (we just don't have much =), but this is a big one. Going head-to-head with a major pharma is going to take some big guns, especially when you're suing for $1,000,000,000. I don't applaud litigation, but I like that BYU is getting aggresive about monetizing the (little) research they do.