What a difference a year makes. In 2005 the blog landscape read like the fledgling medium it was – providing interesting reading that wasn’t so consistent. This year it was just a matter of cherry picking from a selection of blogs that are daily must-reads. Two very different blogs offer a snapshot of the lightning fast rate at which blogs have developed in 2006: Larvatus Prodeo* is brought to you by a group of people who produce one of the most thoughtful, measured and insightful political blogs in the country. At the other end of the spectrum, Tim Blair continues to stir the pot. He pi-ses people off, makes observations that others miss and publishes what others won’t (he gave the finger to the major newspapers by publishing 12 of the controversial Muhammad cartoons). The better blogs are increasingly setting the agenda and changing the pace of news, and old media is scrambling to get a slice by signing bloggers up and folding them into their existing websites (Tim Blair and Tim Dunlop of Road to Surfdom have both been signed by News Limited recently). Blogs have well and truly hit the mainstream, and these guys are the cream of the crop.

*Disclosure: Mark Bahnisch, editor of Larvatus Prodeo, writes regularly for Crikey, but that doesn’t make the blog any less deserving – Crikey was a keen reader long before we got Bahnisch on board.

Honourable mentions: The Spin Starts Here – for its irreverent, b-tchy, often rude mix of politics and pop culture, and The Road to Surfdom – for its fresh and interesting take on issues of the day.

2005 Winner: Troppo Armadillo