Blogging

bumped - roxy - orginal posting info 2008-08-26 13:30:47 -1000

Cho reviews Blogging America, ePluribus Media founding member and director Aaron Barlow's latest book on the phenomenon of web logging and how it re-vitalizes America's public sphere and contributes to our democracy.

From the review:

This second book zeroes in on blogs themselves and how, at a very detailed and specific level, they are transforming our cultural landscape, creating, as his title suggests, a new public sphere. For those concerned about the future of democracy, the existence of such a civic space may be our last defense against neo-liberalism “disappearing” open discussion.

The rest of the review is on the Journal.

Boehner's communist leader, the ever incompetent Beijing George Bush, and his heir wannabe Beijing John McCain are cut from the same communist cloth as John McCain sets out to copy China and their internet astroturfing:

People who sign up for McCain's program receive reward points each time they place a favorable comment on one of the listed Web sites (subject to verification by McCain's webmasters). The points can be traded for prizes, such as books autographed by McCain, preferred seating at campaign events, even a ride with the candidate on his bus, known as the Straight Talk Express, according to campaign spokesman Brian Rogers. ...snip... More chillingly, dissidents alleged earlier this year that the Chinese government has paid Chinese citizens token sums for each favorable comment about government policies they post in chat rooms and on blogs.

That John Beijing McCain is just a red republican chip off of the old communist block...

Since I know many of you would be well qualified for these jobs:

Research For a few new projects we're going to be working on, we're looking for some good freelance researchers/writers. So if you're a freelancer or have a job that allows you to do some freelancing, and you've ever been interested in working with TPM, send us an email with the subject headline "TPM Research," with an introduction and resume. To be clear, this not for a full-time job (though it could lead to one) and at the moment it's not for a specific project. But we'd like to have people's names on file to reach out to to help on particular stories. --Josh Marshall

Here is the eMail address should you choose to apply. And a suggestion below for the ePluribus Media community...

The typical tools for writing a good news story, as imparted years ago in elementary school, were to develop the key answers to six basic questions:

Who did the story involve,
What happened,
Where did it (or will it) take place,
When did it or will it occur,
Why did it happen (and why should anyone care) and
How did it happen (and how does that change or affect anything)?

ePluribus Media is

... a cooperative of citizen volunteers dedicated to researching issues of common concern and encouraging the highest standards of ethics and journalism.

The ePluribus Media community is chartered as 501(c)(4) tax-exempt, non-partisan organization. We are a board run cooperative of citizen volunteers dedicated to researching issues of common concern and encouraging the highest standards of ethics and journalism. Our incorporation papers are public and available upon request.

(from the About Us page) As such, it behooves us to do our best to cover what events of significance that we can -- directly, if possible. We have done and continue to do this, with our efforts to bring people reports in a variety of ways, using a variety of sources and methods. One of the old tried-and-true methods: on-the-scene reporting and representation. There are two items coming up in the relatively short term which we should discuss having representation at: the Democratic National Convention in Denver, and Netroots Nation in Austin. We may also want to consider the Republican National Convention, if it isn't closed to "non-members" (i.e., all Americans who haven't sworn a loyalty oath). Use the comment section below to indicate whether or not you will be attending any of the above, and whether or not (and how) the issue of credentialling ePluribus Media representatives for possible representation at national party conventions can and should be accomplished. As citizen journalists, we are the future of journalism -- that's not only something we must believe, but strive to achieve. So, let's make sure we put our ducks in a row and spread our eggs across several baskets. Who can attend (and who can help get the credentialling ball rolling, in general and specifically for the DNC),
What will we hope to achieve (and what needs to happen to enable that),
Where will we be going,
When will it happen (and when should any credentialling efforts begin?),
Why should we try to ensure representation at certain events (and what other ones should we shoot for?) and
How are we going to accomplish these goals?

Why is this happening?

• “Women comprise 51 percent of the entire U.S. population, but own a total of only 80 stations, or 5.87 percent of all full power commercial television stations.”
• “Minorities comprise 34 percent of the entire U.S. population, but own a total of 43 stations, or 3.15 percent of all full-power commercial television stations.” That percentage decreased between Oct. 2006 and Oct. 2007.