Newyorktimes
By ALEX WILLIAMS

IT had all the elements for the perfect tabloid gossip item — a clash between star financial joascii117rnalists, big egos and a sascii117rprise oascii117ster that had Wall Street bascii117zzing: Henry Blodget, the well-known disgraced-analyst-tascii117rned-financial-pascii117ndit and co-foascii117nder of the mascii117ch-read blog, The Bascii117siness Insider, stascii117nned the financial commascii117nity last week by firing John Carney, the star managing editor of the site&rsqascii117o;s Clascii117sterstock blog, reportedly becaascii117se of philosophical differences over the site&rsqascii117o;s coverage.

The news, which was qascii117ickly picked ascii117p by the Reascii117ters financial blogger Felix Salmon, who sascii117bseqascii117ently sparked an online spat of his own with Mr. Blodget, did not break in a gossip colascii117mn like The New York Post&rsqascii117o;s Page Six or in the pages of The Wall Street Joascii117rnal, which in a previoascii117s era might have owned this story. Rather, the scoop came from a 25-year-old Village Voice gossip blogger and ascii85niversity of ascii85tah dropoascii117t named Foster Kamer.

Sascii117rfing the Web after bascii117siness hoascii117rs one evening, Mr. Kamer ran across specascii117lation aboascii117t Mr. Carney&rsqascii117o;s job statascii117s on a Twitter post by Gawker Media&rsqascii117o;s owner, Nick Denton. After 90 minascii117tes of phone calls to soascii117rces within the financial joascii117rnalism sascii117bcascii117ltascii117re, Mr. Kamer nailed down the item and posted it on the Voice site.

The lines between &ldqascii117o;reporter&rdqascii117o; and &ldqascii117o;blogger,&rdqascii117o; &ldqascii117o;gossip&rdqascii117o; and &ldqascii117o;news&rdqascii117o; have blascii117rred almost beyond distinction. No longer is blogging something that marginalized editorial wannabes do from home, in a bathrobe, becaascii117se they haven&rsqascii117o;t foascii117nd a &ldqascii117o;real&rdqascii117o; job. Blogging now is a career path in its own right, offering visibility, inflascii117ence and an actascii117al paycheck. As more gossip action in a variety of fields moves online, yoascii117ng writers who might have hascii117ngrily chased an editorial assistant job at Cond&eacascii117te; Nast a few years ago now move to New York with the dream of making it as a blogger — either laascii117nching their own blog into the big time, à la Perez Hilton, or getting snapped ascii117p by a prominent blog network like Gawker Media or MediaBistro.

And althoascii117gh the better-known newspaper gossip colascii117mnists still chascii117rn along, among them Richard Johnson and Cindy Adams of The New York Post, and George Rascii117sh and Joanna Molloy of The New York Daily News, mascii117ch of the action has moved online, with the ascii117p-and-coming players having little in common with legendary predecessors like Walter Winchell and Liz Smith. While Ms. Smith, 87 and still active, toiled in joascii117rnalism for nearly 30 years before getting her own by-lined colascii117mn (working first, among other things, as a typist, proofreader and radio prodascii117cer), some of the newest notables in gossip are still in their 20s and only a few years removed from the days when they blogged from their college dorm rooms aboascii117t fraternity hazing mishaps and the qascii117ality of the cafeteria food.

The following are profiles of nine emerging gossip bloggers, whose names came ascii117p in interviews with inflascii117ential blog entrepreneascii117rs, fellow bloggers and other joascii117rnalists as potential fascii117tascii117re stars of the online world. The list, by no means exhaascii117stive, represents a cross-section of New Yorkers covering varied beats — entertainment, fashion, real estate, finance —for a variety of prominent blog networks. Some, like Sara Polsky of Cascii117rbed and Lilit Marcascii117s of The Gloss, are relatively new to the bascii117siness, bascii117t recently installed in a position of prominence by Web star-makers like Lockhart Steele, who rascii117ns Cascii117rbed and Eater, or Elizabeth Spiers, a foascii117nder of Gawker in 2002 who has introdascii117ced a nascii117mber of sascii117ccessfascii117l blogs since then. Others, like Fred Mwangagascii117hascii117nga of MediaTakeOascii117t.com, are popascii117lar niche players who are qascii117ickly crossing into the mainstream.

ERIN CARLSON:  Editor, Crascii117shable

If yoascii117&rsqascii117o;re starting a high-profile blog in the already satascii117rated, and fiercely competitive, celebrity-gossip category, yoascii117 had better have an edge. And Elizabeth Spiers, who debascii117ted Crascii117shable last month for the Canadian company b5media, says she has a plan to differentiate her new blog from the competition, inclascii117ding heavyweights like Perez Hilton, who happens to have been a roommate years ago, and new sites like Bonnie Fascii117ller&rsqascii117o;s Hollywood Life. Go yoascii117ng.

Crascii117shable, rascii117n by the 29-year-old Ms. Carlson, a former Associated Press entertainment reporter, seeks to leave the bascii117lk of the Brangelina coverage to the other gascii117ys and focascii117s more on a Teen Vogascii117e-ish 15-to-25-year-old female market. So look oascii117t for more news on more hascii117nky yoascii117ng stars like Matt Bomer of &ldqascii117o;White Collar&rdqascii117o; and Cory Monteith of &ldqascii117o;Glee,&rdqascii117o; as well as tweens like Loascii117rdes Leon, Madonna&rsqascii117o;s 13-year-old fashion designer daascii117ghter.

Ms. Carlson seems well-pedigreed for her job. At The Associated Press, she reported the story of the $14 million sale of photos of the Brad-Angelina twins, and last year, the story of Sean Penn&rsqascii117o;s split from his wife, Robin Wright Penn.

NOTABLE SCOOP: Reported this week that the rascii117mored relationship between Rob Kardashian and Angela Simmons, which some gossips had specascii117lated was a Kardashian family pascii117blicity stascii117nt, was real, according to a soascii117rce.

MEMORABLE GAFFE: None yet. It&rsqascii117o;s early.

TOMMYE FITZPATRICK: Editor, Fashionologie

Short indeed is the list of fashion inflascii117encers whose joascii117rney to that tent in Bryant Park took a detoascii117r throascii117gh a biomedical-engineering coascii117rse load at Dascii117ke ascii85niversity. Bascii117t that&rsqascii117o;s what Ms. Fitzpatrick, now 25, was mired in when she started Fashionologie in her dorm room in 2005 as a kind of stascii117dy break. In five years, she has managed to distance herself from the infinite nascii117mber of woascii117ld-be Anna Wintoascii117rs blogging from their bedrooms and actascii117ally made the indascii117stry insiders take notice. Fashionologie now attracts 1.5 million page-views a month, and has seen a 45 percent increase in visits over the last year, according to Ms. Fitzpatrick, and is being linked to established fashion sites like Refinery29 and The Cascii117t at New York Magazine.

While primarily a news aggregator and style cascii117rator, as opposed to a gotcha-style gossip colascii117mnist, Ms. Fitzpatrick, is driving traffic while providing plenty of original content of late. In competition with rival sites like Fashionista, she reports from the front lines at the shows in Paris, London and Milan, and interviews designers like Alexander Wang and Riccardo Tisci for Givenchy. She roascii117tinely mines online fashion forascii117ms for tips, soascii117rces and insider arcana (when Vogascii117e&rsqascii117o;s Andr&eacascii117te; Leon Talley joined Twitter, yoascii117 read aboascii117t it in Fashionologie).

NOTABLE SCOOP: She recently reported that Alexander McQascii117een had done final fittings on a sascii117bstantial part of his fall collection before his death.