The blogging of the convention
The Associated Press reports that the Democrats will offer media credentials to “a handful of bloggers” at this year’s convention in Boston. Andrew Sullivan is unimpressed at the opportunity: For my part, I think bloggers could make more of a statement by not going to these elaborate infomercials. All they are are schmooze-fests for journalists, ...
The Associated Press reports that the Democrats will offer media credentials to "a handful of bloggers" at this year's convention in Boston. Andrew Sullivan is unimpressed at the opportunity:
The Associated Press reports that the Democrats will offer media credentials to “a handful of bloggers” at this year’s convention in Boston. Andrew Sullivan is unimpressed at the opportunity:
For my part, I think bloggers could make more of a statement by not going to these elaborate infomercials. All they are are schmooze-fests for journalists, pundits and political types and then many layers of corrupting parties for donors. The only political importance is as television shows, and you can better understand that by, er, watching television.
Andrew is largely correct — the conventions because of their effect on the television audience. That said, I don’t think this is an either/or kind of situation. I’m happy some bloggers will be inside the tent, as it were — mostly because I’m betting that they’ll be able to provide the kind of “local color” that can seem blasé to the veteran journalist. Bloggers also shouldn’t care about whether such anecdotes offend the sensitivities of the powerful and the privileged. Plus, bloggers can also report on an issue that mainstream journalists would be reluctant to cover –how mainstream journalists behave at these shindigs. Incidentally, I got a call last week from a Washington Post writer asking me if I’d be attending. I patiently explained that my wife is not keen for me to go to Boston and/or New York on our own dime just because the political parties might let me through the front door.
Daniel W. Drezner is a professor of international politics at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University and co-host of the Space the Nation podcast. Twitter: @dandrezner
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