As weblogs begin to move into video and site like YouTube gain large audiences, the EU wants to apply broadcast censorship standards to the web.

Viviane Reding, the Media Commissioner, argues that the purpose is simply to set minimum standards on areas such as advertising, hate speech and the protection of children.

But Shaun Woodward, the Broadcasting Minister, described the draft proposal as catastrophic. He said: “Supposing you set up a website for your amateur rugby club, uploaded some images and added a link advertising your local sports shop. You would then be a supplier of moving images and need to be licensed and comply with the regulations.”

The proposal is called Television Without Frontiers.

Try Television Without Competition.

Democrats often complain about Republicans’ advantage in alternative media (meaning talk radio and blogs) and are making efforts to compete. Bill Clinton says one reason for the left’s unpreparedness has been its dependency on old-media outlets to promote their agenda for them, something conservatives would say they’ve never enjoyed.

[Clinton] said Democrats of his generation tend to be naive about new media realities. There is an expectation among Democrats that establishment old media organizations are de facto allies — and will rebut political accusations and serve as referees on new-media excesses.”We’re all that way, and I think a part of it is we grew up in the ’60s and the press led us against the war and the press led us on civil rights and the press led us on Watergate,” Clinton said. “Those of us of a certain age grew up with this almost unrealistic set of expectations.”Few conservatives would make a similar miscalculation. Many of the first generation of new media platforms, including Limbaugh’s show and Drudge’s Web site, first flourished because of a conviction among conservatives that old media were unfair.All this has given Republicans a comfort and skill at using new media to political advantage that most Democrats have not matched.

The editor of the Washington Post says blogs and online readers are driving a new audience to his paper and his reporters benefit from the criticism and fact checking that bloggers provide.

Reporters love newsroom blogs, said Downie, because they put writers in better touch with their readers: “Everyone in our newsroom wants to be a blogger.”

And the blogs that pick apart every article that the Post produces are a good thing, said Downie, because they “keep the paper honest” and, even if their commentary isn’t positive, bring people to the site.

“Blogs are not competitors and not problems,” he said. “Instead we have a very interesting symbiotic relationship. Our largest driver of traffic is Matt Drudge.”