Bill Keller, editor of the New York Times, in one of a series of dismissals of bloggers, summed up their contribution to the information society by the following: "Bloggers recycle and chew on the news. That's not bad. But it's not enough."
If, indeed, that it was all bloggers were doing or could do, it would not be enough, but blogging today is much more than media criticism. In fact, there are bloggers who are doing everything that journalists ever did. Indeed that's the point about the world of "PolicyByBlog": blogging is a genre, a medium and a technology that can be used by professionals.
I don't think Keller was making a movie allusion. But to historians of political communication who are also interested in politicians using blogs to reach the people it is worth recalling the implications of the word "chew." I think of a potent icon of individual populist autocracy gone mad.
There were no blogs in 1956 when director Elia Kazan...
UPDATED: Senator Hillary Clinton is still getting very high poll ratings--especially among minority voters which make up majorities or pluralities of the Democratic vote in many states, like, say South Carolina. In irony, she would be unbeatable if the Democratic primaries were held today in the Southern states; but, whether she would win any Southern red state in a general election is questionable. Hillary Rodham Clinton is the only Democrat who can energize the Republican base--to vote against her.
If her main concern is the general election contest, that is winning the middle and swing voters, then she (and her lead live-in political strategist) may be considering a "Sister Souljah" moment, with the symbolic target this time being anti-war left bloggers. An SS moment refers to the time in 1992 when Bill Clinton criticized the black, female rap artist for sounding like "David Duke" for a comment she made about "why not have a week and kill white people?" (Which she said...
Editor & Publisher just put up an op-ed of mine* about the media lessons of the twin disasters at the Sago mine in West Virginia. Again, I think what I say here applies to all forms of media.
MINE RESCUE LESSON: JUST SAY 'DON'T KNOW'
By David D. Perlmutter/Editor&Publisher.com (January 05, 2006)
In the wake of the Sago mine disaster, perhaps a new category of Pulitzer Prize should be created to honor the journalists or news managers who caution that a story is not ready for prime time or publication. We must re-evaluate how journalism produces and delivers the "first draft of history."
"Journalism," claimed former Washington Post publisher Philip Graham, "is the first draft of history." But when I set my students, as an exercise, to factually verify initial media reports of major news events they are shocked. From the Tiananmen uprisings and government crackdown to the flooding of New Orleans, they find the same sad tale. The first draft is full of...
[UPDATED]
Frank Athens of the Washington Posts makes an accusation that one hears often cast against blogging:
"[The most] troubling trait of the Internet [is that] Rather than opening minds, it can close them, thanks to echo-chamber Web sites and blogs. We like to read Web sites and blogs that we agree with and that reinforce our opinions. Aside from the few of you who practice "know your enemy" browsing, how many of you liberals read http://www.nationalreview.com/? How many of you conservatives frequent http://www.thenation.com/?
His implication is that blog consumption is ideologically self-referential: liberals read Daily Kos; conservatives read powerlineblog and so on. And never the twain do meet. (See comment by Jeff Jarvis).
Is this true?
First, Athens' unstated premise is that "neutral platforms" like, say the Washington Post, are superior content providers because they offer an internal marketplace of different, competing ideas, each given equal weight. Well, I'm not sure how many people, left or right, truly believe that the Washington Post, or any...
Earlier this month, Kevin Denee of The Restored Church of God posted an article on the church’s website concerning the evils of blogging. While Denee focuses his attention on teens, he concludes that even adults should refrain from using blogs altogether. Given that the blog as a medium has an infinite variety of potential formats and subject matter, it is worthwhile to investigate why Denee is so vociferous in his opposition. On face, his logic seems akin to demanding that people abstain from using knives, as they could be used for nefarious purposes.
Before delving into the article, it is worthwhile to note that this essay should not be viewed as a personal attack on the religious beliefs of Mr. Denee or the church. Rather, it is intended only to question some of the assumptions and accusations leveled by Mr. Denee on blogging as an immoral method of communication.
It is interesting that Mr. Denee posted his personal thoughts on blogs to the...
a.k.a. “Bush and Rumsfeld and Iraq and Troops and “Terror! or Insurgen!” and “Mess”
In what was dubbed a “referendum on Iraq,” voters in the midterm elections were characterized in mainstream media as casting votes not necessarily for a particular candidate, but against the war in Iraq. And while in some cases such a blanket statement is inaccurate, the very fact that it is was mentioned with such recurring frequency suggests it played a materially significant role.
The GOP was battered with barbs from both the right and the left in the weeks leading up to the election. The generic charge was that they were “out of touch” with reality. One of the chief targets of criticism was the recently-retired Donald Rumsfeld. In what may be viewed as an appropriate parting gift, The BBC reported the Department of Defense established a new program at the Pentagon to “boost its ability to counter ‘inaccurate’ news stories and exploit new media.”
The program is designed...
I just finished my final draft of Blogwars: The New Political Battleground (Oxford University Press). As I have said, writing a book on blogs is like reporting NASCAR with stone tablets--so much happens so fast. One topic of current interest is the nature of interactivity: what are its benefits and drawbacks for politicians?
Of course, in the bloglands, you can’t pack the rooms with your supporters, shut out hecklers, and enforce message discipline. For example, candidate Barack Obama pioneered the use of MySpace as a campaign tool, but look at what happens when you open up the gates of interactivity to anyone, from kooks to your sworn enemies to supporters who embarrass you by their support. Among the July 2007 commenters on the Obama MySpace site, one “Namaste” from the hip-hop music producers at StreetLabStudio signed on to say, "Fallin' thru ta show ya some luv and say wassup!! Have an Excellent, Blessed Day!! 'lid.....never follow." Fair enough, but does the...
My essay "Facebooking Your Way Out of Tenure" appeared in the Chronicle of Higher Education, July 3, 2009. [online]. It is part of my regular column, "P&T Confidential." The essay (first of two parts) looks at how the vast new world of online social networks--Facebook, MySpace, YouTube, blogs, Twitter, etc.--has affected many parts of our lives, including promotion and tenure for academics. In part one I deal with how Facebook can negatively influence the way people, including those who will decide on your tenure bid, think about you. In part two, next month, I will outline tenure-friendly Facebooking activities.
Originally posted July 3, 2009 at PolicyByBlog...
My essay on "Facebooking for the Tenure Track" appeared in the Chronicle of Higher Education, September 4, 2009. [online]
Originally posted September 19, 2009 at PolicyByBlog...