Monday, June 21, 2004

They'll be blogging in Boston (at the DNC) Yes, that headline would work nicely with the same old Chuck Berry tune used for "Surfin USA," but so far I haven't heard the combination on the radio. However, the Associated Press has a story today on bloggers' plans to cover the political party conventions this summer, providing all the information an enterprising lyricist would need. While I'm not writing theme songs for convention-goers myself, I've done my part to make it easier for the convention officials to pick their elite corps of bloggers -- by taking my own name out of the running. One less can't hurt. Although politics isn't really my thing I did apply for credentials some weeks ago. As much as I'd enjoy hanging out at the Fleet Center with the press corps, I decided it's not for me. It looks like I'll probably be packing to move to a new job that week, one of life's little coincidences. I don't envy the convention officials the job of picking bloggers. The AP story quotes officials saying more than 50 people applied and "an undetermined number" will be chosen, "based on originality, readership level and professionalism." I trust that includes non-partisan and critical forms of originality and professionalism. When the visiting bloggers get there, they'll find a "home team" already in action at The Democratic National Convention Blog by Eric Schnure, Matt Stoller (also of bopnews) and Mike Liddell. Bloggers attending the convention -- or writing from afar -- also might find this Democratic Convention who's who useful, thanks to Democracy in Action. And maybe a few of my old Boston reporting bookmarks will be useful, now reborn as the Society of Professional Journalists' NE SPJ Resource Pages. I also posted a few Political Reporting links last year. By the way, while the Democratic convention is the first to invite bloggers and blog readers, its own site is a bit optimistic about the blogworld audience, saying (until today, anyhow) that "around 11% of the American public has read a blog." That's a mistake. The line should have been "11% of Internet users" -- easy to check in the report at the other end of that link, which the DNC blog provided. They get extra webkarma points for linking to source material. If I'm reading the reports correctly, the Pew Center's statistics start from an estimate of 128 million adult Internet users in the U.S., not the total American public. Whatever the base number, the "I have read a blog" total is still in the millions of people, not all of whom have decided they have better things to do with their time. Today, however, it's much too nice out to be indoors reading blogs in Boston. Note: The AP link above is to Boston.com. Here's the CBS copy of the same story. I don't know whether one will stay online longer than the other. 2:10:02 PM    comment []

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