Berkman
\n Center<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n The Democrats and the Republicans are inviting a limited number of
\n bloggers – those witty, candid, irreverent, passionate, shrewd and outrageous
\n Internet chroniclers – to their 2004 conventions. It’s a gesture of respect
\n for the growing influence of the blogosphere, and if ever there were
\n events ideally suited to bloggers, the heavily scripted and tensionless
\n conventions top the list.<\/p>\n
Starts out in a laudatory tone, a rhetorical feign as old as the
\n Greek Athenaeum.<\/em><\/p>\n But make no mistake, this moment of blogging legitimization – and temporary
\n press credentials – doesn’t turn bloggers into journalists. <\/p>\n
Understandable professional protectionism – not for nothing is this
\n guy directing the Sorensen Center for Press, Politics and Public Policy.
\n Next, after the obligatory nostalgic rehashing of the Trent Lott debacle,
\n a cautionary note enters the story.<\/em><\/p>\nJournalists increasingly read blogs to pick up tips. Blogs have become
\n a network of capillaries that feed the nation’s veins of information.
\n For that reason, blogging’s freewheeling, unfettered style makes it a
\n juicy target for manipulation.<\/p>\n
In these early days, blogging still has the charm of guileless transparency,
\nwhich in the blogosphere means that everyone – no matter how cranky or hysterical
\n– is presumed to be speaking his or her mind with sincerity. It is this air of
\nconviction that makes bloggers such potent advocates.<\/p>\n
However, if history is any indicator, such earnestness will attract those who
\nwould exploit it, and they include some canny, inventive people. There is already
\ntalk of bloggers who would consider publishing items for cash and commercial
\nblogs that tout products.<\/p>\n
Hey, cash for stories. You mean actually getting paid for writing?
\n But, gosh, wouldn’t that make us (gulp) "professionals"? And wouldn’t
\n that mean we were part of the problem, not the solution. For the Dowbrigade,
\n the solution may come in the form of untraceable cash, or better yet,
\n bearer bonds. Delivery instructions to follow.<\/em><\/p>\nfrom the L.A. Times<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A very interesting article appeared recently in the Los Angeles Times, written by Alex Jones, director Harvard’s Shorenstein Center, a sister institution to the center of Blogging at Harvard, the Berkman Center. The Democrats and the Republicans are inviting a … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":299,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1443],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2456","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-esl-links"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/dowbrigade\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2456","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/dowbrigade\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/dowbrigade\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/dowbrigade\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/299"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/dowbrigade\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2456"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/dowbrigade\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2456\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/dowbrigade\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2456"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/dowbrigade\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2456"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/dowbrigade\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2456"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}