Slashdot Mirror
The Year of the Political Blogger
The New York Times is running a story about how political blogging has arrived as a widely-accepted form of reporting during this election year. In addition to the nationwide TV and radio audiences, the candidates are making efforts to get their message onto the increasingly popular blog network. In doing so, they've elevated bloggers to the level of traditional media reporters at the national conventions.
"The major political parties first gave credentials to bloggers in 2004. The Republicans allowed a dozen bloggers to attend their convention in New York, while the Democrats gave bloggers 35 seats in the nosebleed section of the Fleet Center in Boston. This year, the R.N.C. gave credentials to 200 bloggers as a means to 'get Senator McCain's message out to more people,' said Joanna Burgos, the press secretary of the convention. For bloggers attending the Democratic convention at the Pepsi Center in Denver, two types of credentials are offered. The first is a national credential, which offers the same access granted to members of traditional news media organizations. The second, more coveted credential is the state blogger credential. It allows one blogger per state to cover the convention alongside its state delegation, with unlimited floor access."
Of course, political blogs are abuzz today with the news of Obama's selection of Senator Joe Biden as a running mate.
You always have to remember there are many jobs where professionals are paid to fulfil the role not punch a time clock. Their success in the job is not measured by attendance, or the number of work related key presses per hour but by the role being fulfilled. Very good admins end up spending very little time administering the network because it runs properly, poor admins run poorly configured and maintained systems, hence they are continually busy trying to keep it running and fixing one disaster after another.
The bloggers role in modern political reporting is a very sad indictment of the corrupt state of mass media news reporting or as is closer to reality the fabrication of the news. Examples like this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NVNblG9PJMk which are used manipulate the political discourse are the reason that bloggers are coming to the fire as more independent sources of information or why major mass media news outlets are being viewed as just another blog.
Chaos - everything, everywhere, everywhen
rj