Professional Bloggers' Power Debated

In the old days, reading a blog meant following the life of some random guy (or girl) who made ends meet through other means.  Now, it's likely to consist of contributing to a major company's pockets (or at least an individual's main paycheck), and this has led to the iffy idea that amateur bloggers might be getting elbowed out of the way.

Amateur bloggers must have trouble keeping up with professionals in one sense, of course; after spending nine or more hours per day at a "real" job, they can't hope to dedicate as much time to writing.  But this doesn't guarantee that what they write is less interesting than everything else out there.  Some blogs get updated less than once a day, or even once a week, yet have still found their way onto "Favorites" lists.