You’d think that no one had ever heard of a blogger before. 35 bloggers were given press credentials to the Democratic National Convention in Boston and the mediasphere is abuzz! As usual the press delights in reporting on itself and extending the spirit of derision and fascination now applies to the political nuts that are out and about covering the rally. Didn’t Hunter S. Thompson perfect this style of journalism along time ago?
This is a real landmark for the legitimacy of the blogger and a testament to their growing influence. That doesn’t necessarily make them mainstream, simply because not enough people are reading them right now.
A special site has been set up to aggregate the convention bloggers into an instant update of the alternate view to the political brouhaha – http://conventionbloggers.com. And another similar site over at http://politics.technorati.com
And the layers of spectator and participant are swirling:
We watched Howard Dean. The other media watched him. They watched us watch him. We watched them watch us. They watched us watching them watch us. They photographed us photographing them. We photographed them photographing him. It becomes harder and harder to step outside the frame of self-reference.
Cingular Wireless has even set up a moblog comprised of cameraphone instant pics from the floor of the convention hall.
And how else are you going to get a chance to see the designated ‘free
speech zones’ that resemble cages.
The Wall Street Journal gushes:
Blogs’ hallmarks – quick publishing, links, commentary, reader
feedback and light or no outside editing — mean bloggers
could bring new approaches and a wide range of voices to covering an event
steeped in tradition. The article includes a portfolio of the golden boys and girls – eminscent of the ‘lookit those whiz kids’ spirit of the internet boom.
And CNN is actually sharing some server space to give a Daily Blog Roundup.
Of course there is the requisite criticism of the ‘Look, ma! I’m the
media!’ dynamic:
Stop talking to each other. Stop taking pictures of each other. Stop simulblogging speeches that are being covered live by television
And some journalists are queasy and uneasy:
I think that bloggers have put the issue of professionalism under attack. They have no pretense to objectivity. They don’t cover both sides.
Not to be outdone, the Republican party has announced they’ve
invited a bunch of bloggers to attend their National Convention, in New York City.
I am so jealous and wish I was there!
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