Bumped and promoted. Interesting and worthwhile bit of reflection from the national gadfly.  It was originally posted the other day (I lost the timestamp). -- GH

My 'day job' has me traveling today.  I am in rural MA, but I could be anywhere.  Looking at this hotel and the surrounding...um...civilisation, I am actually nowhere.  That has nothing to do with the city, though.  It has everything to do with the effect this economy is having on the people.

I've traveled for business for a couple decades now and I have this habit of getting up at the crack of dawn, showering, getting dressed and being the first one down to the hotel restaurant for breakfast.  It gives me a little mental edge to know that I'm prepared and ready for the day and I avoid any risk of becoming - that dumbass that rolled into the meeting late with his necktie crooked and his cell phone unmuted.

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?