Tuesday, November 27, 2007

Convention Blogger Corps

Democrats and Republicans will both make more room for bloggers at their respective conventions next year. "The Democrats are starting a state blogger corps, with credentials going to 56 blogs, one from each state plus the territories," reports Katharine Q. Seelye in the New York Times. Many other bloggers will also get credentials for the DNC in Denver, and hundreds more are expected in the mix of convention-goers.

The presence of more bloggers is itself part of the narrative, feeding into the media's love of self-analysis. Seelye writes that we will see "more stories by the media about the media covering the media." The whole endeavor will be a great test case for the effects that blogs have on our political perceptions. Imagine the snapshot mosaic of all the bloggers' comments on a particular speech. Will they align or diverge? Which details will prove salient?

The Colorado blogosphere has teamed up with dailykos.com to host an adjunct blogger hangout across the street from the convention. Daily Kos founder Markos Moulitsas put in a plug for the alternative location, citing the security nightmare as a deterrent to convention access. Blogging from a safe distance is indicative of the state of fear in America. During the 2004 RNC, midtown Manhattan was a ghost town populated mostly by police. Echoes of FDR's first inaugural address seem pretty relevant.

6 comments:

Matthew Hennessey said...

The salient question, it seems to me, is whether the political parties will treat bloggers as fully credentialed members of the media -- with all of the rights and obligations that this implies. Will the bloggers merely be expecteded to amplify the message coming from the convention floor? Or will they be more critically engaged in analysis of both the candidates and the process?

I know that not every member of the media is always able to report from a position of total objectivity. But they are expected to aspire to that standard. Does opening the convention doors come with the expectation that the traditional divide between press and politics can be circumvented?

Much of the value added will hinge on this dynamic.

Anonymous said...

Wow,

Glad to hear the team-up effort with Kos.

Could I ask a favor? There's an effort underway to clear the roadblock for impeachment. Could you ask your friends at Kos to consider this link, and post a comment at Kos at the listed diary?

Thank you.

JenzFullerBrushBiz said...

People don't seem to realize the power of blogging. They are so wide spread, garner a lot of traffic, get tons of attention because anyone can open one up.

Politicians have started giving nods to large blogsphere sites. Like the Daily-Kos.

Great post.

EQ said...

I use my blog to gauge political sentiment in my country.

Example:

New Poll On The 2010 Possible Presidential Timber in the Philippines

Imagine,if the presidential polls were held today,who would you vote for?(vote in the NEW poll on my blog)

EQ said...

I am also doing a poll on the worst ever President in the Philippines. Interesting results to-date.


http://mav-equalizer.blogspot.com/

EQ said...

Mediamen arrested after Manila Pen siege

A handcuffed Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV was dragged by policemen to a waiting bus of the National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) after surrendering to government troopers who stormed the Manila Peninsula Hotel, where he and renegade soldiers were arrested after the six-hour siege.

Trillanes earlier told reporters that he will face whatever charges await him for leading soldiers in another uprising against President Arroyo.

“I will face [the charges],” the senator said, adding that his group decided to surrender out of concern of the safety of civilians and mediamen trapped with them in the hotel.

“Like I said before we are going out for the sake of the safety….for your sake,” he said referring to members of the media, civilians and employees of the hotel.

After Trillanes, former vice-president Teofisto Guingona and Army Brig. Gen. Danny Lim were also hauled into the same bus.

Technical crewmen of ABS-CBN News were also arrested, handcuffed and were taken to a police bus bound for the NCRPO headquarters in Camp Bagong Diwa in Bicutan, Taguig.

ABS-CBN News footage also showed Bishop Emeritus Julio Labayen and running priest Father Robert Reyes being escorted into the bus.

Among those arrested from ABS-CBN were Emil Hao, Alex Acuin, Mark Cadampog and Norbert Calupitan.

Radio dzMM reporter Noel Alamar was also arrested.