Convention Retrospective, part 2

Another hot topic among the bloggers is the proliferation of "psuedo-blogs"
which are popping up all over Boston like acne on a teenager in a chocolate
factory. These "psuedo-blogs" come in many forms.

Much in evidence these days, of course, are politician’s blogs.  Not
to be confused with political blogs, which are written by non-politicians,
amateur pundits and political junkies of all stripes and which comment
on and analyze politics.

Politician’s blogs are invariable created, written and maintained by
staff members of the great man (or woman) in charge, who of course is
much too busy to read any blogs, much less write one.  But after
Howard Dean, andy politician with an ounce of sense or feel for the public
pulse knows he needs a blog, even if he or she hasn’t a clue as to what
one actually is.

So the wealthier one go out and hire an established blogger (or ‘Ho,
as they are informally known around the ‘Sphere) to create their blog.  If
they are less affluent they just order one of their staffers to figure
out what a Blog is and then get one going.

These "blogs" are barely identifiable as such, consisting mainly of
crass shucksterism and recycled press releases. In addition there are
innumerable "psuedo-blogs" selling products, set up as part of advertising
campaigns, by bars or restaurants, or to solicit credit card numbers
in return for instant sexual gratification.

More difficult to categorize are the many many blogs being created by
the mainstream media organizations to try to "catch the wave of the happening
blogger phenomena". Most of these blogs were created in the past two
weeks and the odds of their surviving the election season are slim to
none.

Bloggers are reluctant to admit these journalistic blogs to their community
for a couple of reasons.  For one, they are clearly professional
writers, and in fact part of the mainstream media..  They are getting
directly paid for writing their blogs, and bloggers are fiercely protective
of their amateur status (although somewhat contradictory they scheme
constantly about how to have a living from their blog and quit their
day jobs.

But more importantly, they are being edited.  Even if the editor
only reads the stuff before, or even after, it gets posted, the fact
that one’s employers will be reading and evaluating one’s blogging does
change the basic nature of the endeavor. And in addition to editorial
control of content, there is the fact that the mere existence of an intermediary
agent violates the true essence of blogging – naked contact between the
blogger and the reader. The whole rush of the blogging experience is
that there is NOTHING BETWEEN the observer and the reader, and the impressions
are fresh and unadulterated,

We have been hanging, occasionally, with a blogger from the Philadelphia
Inquirer.  He WAS a feature writer, until two weeks ago, when his
editor told him to start a blog and pack his bags for Boston.  He
seems like a really nice guy, and he might get the point someday (at
which point he would probably start blogging about the Philadelphia
Inquirer rather than the Conventions his editor sends him to, and lose
his job, which would be a tragedy, but good blogging material).

Not only the prink media is desperately delving into the blogging pool.  Reporters
from CNN, the New York Times, Fox and Sports Illustrated have started
blogging as well. Why is the traditional media suddenly so fascinated,
near obsessed, with the bloggers. It can;t be because we’re the most
interesting folks in town!

It is becoming increasingly clear to the Dowbrigade that it is because
they are scared.  Well, not scared, exactly, but a little nervous
at least, and with some reason.

First, we are undocumented workers, threatening their jobs by working
for free, eroding the market for their product, and they resent the fact
that we haven’t "paid our dues", haven’t spent those hot summer nights
working the police beat in some urban cesspool or the frigid
6 am Blizzard reports, and here we come waltzing in to take the choice
seats.

And second, we represent the first realistic threat in decades to expose
their cherished myth of objectivity.  Most of the reporters we have
talked to honestly try to obtain the impossibly illusive objectivity,
but this merely ends up making their inevitable subjectivity more subtle
and difficult to detect.

What they have been feeding us for many years is one specific world
view and one consistent and usually coherent version of what the news
"means".  All Bloggers aim to do is  point out that
there are alternatives.