Washington - The Federal Election Commission (FEC) has reaffirmed that political blogs qualify as media entities, and are thus exempt from federal campaign finance rules, the Associated Press reported.

The decision means that the blog DailyKos, operated by Markos Moulitsas Zuniga, is free to post entries that support specific candidates.

The ruling follows a complaint filed last month by conservative blogger John Bambenek of BlogCritics, who said that Zuniga's liberal blog violates the Federal Election Campaign Act, providing "a gift of free advertising and candidate media services."

"While the complaint asserts that DailyKos advocates for the election of Democrats for federal office, the commission has repeatedly stated that an entity that would otherwise qualify for the media exemption does not lose its eligibility because it features news or commentary lacking objectivity or expressly advocates in its editorial the election or defeat of a federal candidate," the FEC said in its decision.

Related Links:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070905/ap_po/fec_blogs_2 (AP)

http://www.fec.gov/press/press2007/20070904murs.shtml

http://blogcritics.org/archives/2007/07/23/210842.php

http://www.dailykos.com