IOP Forum: IRAQ, 527s, Bloggers & Battlegrounds
Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government’s Institute of Politics is hosting a panel discussion in their JFK Jr. Forum on Tuesday, October 5, at 7 pm about issues related to Campaign 2004, including blogging.
Thanks for the FYI, JT.
Addendum 10/5: I’m at the forum now. So far it’s just talk of politics, which is pretty boring. The panel is talking about polls and how things look for the election.
When asked about the newness of blogging and how that’s effecting the election, Joe Trippi talked about the CBS program situation where some bloggers began reporting about the fake documents CBS cited regarding President Bush’s National Guard service.
He sees blogging as a means through which people can not only influence other people, but also the media.
Some guy on the panel (I wasn’t here for the introductions; I don’t know who’s who) talked about how behind the times he felt when he learned about the power of the Internet when it comes to politics because he’s what he described as an “old media type.”
(The guy behind me is reading over my shoulder. I don’t mind. ::waves::)
I caught up with the Dowbrigade on my walk over here. He’s sitting to my right and taking notes to blog later. I can’t wait to read what he writes.
Tippi claims that the top four blogs have a larger readership than The New York Times, so he’s learned to leverage the power of bloggers and to not ignore the big ones.
“Are bloggers a counterbalance to the talking heads?” asked a woman on the panel.
Trippi responds by addressing the difference between the written word and what you can do on television. “Bloggers wear their view on their sleeve. They have a view and a slant and readers know what it is,” he claims. Bloggers also have to do fast corrections because of pressure from their audience when someone finds an error on their blog. “That’s something The New York Times, the Boston Herald can’t do. … What’s interesting about the blogosphere is that it is a more perfect medium because of that.” News organizations can’t always make corrections in real time. Once someone has said something on television, it’s said. It’s possible to correct what’s posted on a blog, Trippi elaborates.
Trippi tries to cite a number of blogs and uses the number of blogs Technorati includes as the number of blogs available. A few of the Thursday night bloggers discussed this issue last week and couldn’t come up with a solid number. Technorati doesn’t include all of the blogs available. (I’m not trying to knock Technorati here. There are many reasons, including legal and technical reasons, why they can’t get content from all of the blogs.)
He acknowledges the success of raising campaign funds via the Web.
The Dowbrigade has a much better and funnier account.
