Location
New School University
Time
May 24, 2004 - 11:00 am
Description
Relations between bloggers, journalists and politicians are often strained. Each of these groups has a different history, set of pressures and intentions. Journalism is objective… or is it? Often these groups’ goals and tactics run at cross purposes. Sometimes, the snobbery of history causes one to disdain the other, to write them off. Such denial is dangerous. In late 2002, bloggers picked up a dead story, amplified it back into the traditional media, and before long Trent Lott had lost his spot as Senate majority leader. Similarly, bloggers helped convince CBS not to air a documentary about President Reagan.
Bloggers, journalists and politicians have much to learn from one another. For better or worse, their paths will continue to converge. Bloggers are gaining political clout. Politicians are blogging. Journalists are blogging about politicians. Bloggers are breaking the news — in both senses of the phrase.
At stake in this messy tug-of-war are key issues such as trust and credibility, which influence decision-makers at all levels. The way we run our country — and other people run theirs — is being remolded.
This panel examines those dynamics, looking for the positive outcomes that a realistic, far-sighted approach might uncover.
- How do bloggers, journalists and politicians engage with one another? How does this change their historic roles and how might it evolve?
- How has this triad changed the dynamics of opinion-making? Are there new strange-bedfellow effects, as perhaps between libertarian conservatives and progressives?
- To what degree is blogging an engine of community-building?
- Has any campaign really blogged yet? What can blogging really do for a campaign? What would a successful campaign blog look like? Is it necessary for a politician to blog?
MODERATOR: Micah Sifry, Senior Analyst, Public Campaign
Eric Alterman, Media Columnist, The Nation, Weblogger on “Altercation” at MSNBC.com
Jason Calacanis, Chairman, The Weblogs, Inc. Network
Arianna Huffington, Nationally Syndicated Columnist and Author
Jeff Jarvis, Buzzmachine.com
Chris Nolan, Blogger, Politics from Left to Right
Congressman Anthony Weiner, 9th District of New York