According to a new poll released today by Reuters, the majority of Americans do not read political blogs.

Only 22 percent of people responding to the poll said they read blogs regularly, meaning several times a month or more, according to the survey conducted by Harris Interactive.

While this figure may seem accurate, I disagree. I think that political blogs have become one of the most read forms of media dealing with politics, right behind the traditional newspaper. With most major news organizations now having political blogs of their own, it would seem as though now is the time that people are reading blogs more than ever.

But, here is a statistic that I disagree with even more:

The generation most likely to read such blogs are those age 63 or older, 26 percent of whom said they do so. Also, 23 percent of those ages 44 to 62 read them, the poll said.

While I have no doubt that people age 63 or older do in fact read political blogs, I can almost guarantee you that they do not do so at a rate higher than the 18-31 demographic, which Reuters claims is at 19%. We live in a world where the internet and social media is driving news coverage faster than we can keep up, and the 18-31 demographic is hailed as the ones that created such a phenomenon.

So what does this poll really mean? Do political blogs really not play the abundant part of the role that we thought they did? Or, is this just simply another way to try and discredit what is clearly becoming the top news and information choice for so many across the globe?

I see it as the latter. Traditional media outlets have always tried to downplay the role that web-based media and blogs play in the typical cycle of news, all while more and more of them each day continue to move to that very form of media delivery. Just take a look at any one of the political shows that airs on MSNBC on any given evening. You will no doubt find the show laced with a handful of guests that are from some sort of online related media outlet, be it a blog, news portal, or online magazine.

I think the truth quite honestly is that the bloggers out there in the blogosphere keep up with the news at an amazing rate and often times their commentary outweighs that of what would normally be a more trust-worthy source. So, it seems obvious that the traditional media outlets would want to downplay the role that your typical political blogger has in the grand scheme of things. Political blogging has become an integral part of politics, campaigns, and the never-ending news cycle. I don’t see that diminishing anytime soon, in fact, it appears to be growing in larger numbers every day.