If conversation is the media industry’s new currency and engagement indicator, then George Bush’s backlash over the New York Times’s recent coverage of the Department of Treasury’s anti-terrorism money-tracking program was nothing short of a huge, early, fat Christmas present. Above is a chart showing the percentage of mentions in the blogosphere of the New York Times, George Bush and Dick Cheney. Sorry, NYTimes, despite how offended Dick Cheney was over your sensational front-paging of non-news, his hunting accident still drew a higher spike in conversation. Will this "controversial" NYTimes front-page story help otherwise stagnant, if not declining, traffic (as suggested here and here)?