Bacon’s publisher Ruth McFarland wasn’t entirely convinced that blogs warranted inclusion in the media monitoring company’s list of media worth monitoring. Blogs have made enough of an impact (e.g., coverage as an also-ran in Time’s Person of the Year coverage) that McFarland has relented and assigned three of her 56 editors to keep an eye on the blogosphere.

“The news cycle for a story sometimes originates from a blog and can, on occasion, find its way into the mainstream media,” said McFarland, also a senior vice president, in a statement.

Not that Bacon’s plans to cover the entire blogosphere, mind you; just the 250 “most reputable” blogs. You can’t believe how miffed I am that a shel of my former self didn’t make the cut. I guess that means Bacon’s won’t pick up this reference to themselves as part of their own media monitoring efforts.

In fact, I don’t know that I’m not on the list, since McFarland isn’t revealing the blogs that are on it. The range of blogs Bacon’s will track covers a broad range of topics including technology, politics and religion. She did note that Wonkette, Silicon Valley Watcher and Dave Barry’s blog are samples of those that will be covered since they’re authored by “reputable, credible professionals.” (I’d like to meet the media relations pro who needs to know what Dave Barry is saying about his company or client.) The three editors will “spot check” blogs on a rotating basis, according to a report in MediaPosts’s Media Daily News.

Three editors, together dedicating 60 man hours per week, will not have time to thoroughly fact-check 250 streaming consciousnesses. Over the next year, McFarland will allocate more or less staff based on market demand.

There’s more coverage in DM News, which reports:

The Chicago company will introduce new blog content in its MediaSource Premium Research module and track coverage of the personal journals in its Monitoring module. Both modules are designed to help clients gauge the effect of blogs on business decisions and corporate reputations.