Today the Blogometer talks to Mark Coffey, who writes Decision '08.
What is your full name?
Mark Alan Coffey.
What is your age?
37.
Where did you grow up?
Lamesa, TX -- midway between Lubbock and Midland.
Where do you live now?
Austin, TX -- a very blue city in a very red state.
What is your occupation?
Analyst.
Have you ever worked on a political campaign or for the mainstream media?
No -- though I did run for the student council years ago (and won!).
When did you start blogging and why?
I started blogging, oddly enough, after the 2004 election, thus missing the biggest traffic period. I was reading all the blogs, e-mailing friends and relatives relevant news stories, and generally doing everything but putting the content on the web. When I hit on the idea of getting an early jump on 2008, my mind was made up, and I went live on November 21st, 2004.
What has been your favorite post, or favorite story to write about, in that time?
Lately, I've been on a campaign to rename the Netroots as the Nutroots (r), but with limited success (it's not that my audience is not big enough - oh, no! Rather, like Spinal Tap, my appeal is very selective). My formation of the Coalition of the Chilling was much more successful - I was able to convince a number of prominent bloggers to joing me in decrying the harsh rhetoric that greeted the Gang of 14 Deal (a deal that has worked out remarkably well for Republicans, I might add).
Describe your typical blogging schedule. And what is your average output?
I blog on and off pretty much all day, everyday ... I enjoy it and I need to build up my audience.
And what is your average output?
I'd say probably about 7 or 8 posts a day.
Who is your favorite political blogger? Favorite non-political blogger?
Tom Maguire of JustOneMinute, hands down. A true blogger, through and through (honorable mentions to Tim Blair and Mickey Kaus). [For non-political:] Although both sometimes cover politics, amongst many other things, I really enjoy Be Be Re and NBR.
Who is your favorite mainstream media columnist?
Who is your favorite mainstream media columnist? Christopher Hitchens , without a doubt (I know I'm stretching a bit, but he is a columnist for Slate and Vanity Fair, as well as the AtlanticMonthly ).
What is your favorite television news program, either network or cable?
I like the occasional hour-long specials, like CNN Presents, but I can't abide the soundbite nature of regular news on television.
What MSM-produced websites (i.e. newspapers, magazines) do you visit on a daily basis?
The Washington Post, The New York Times, and the Wall Street Journal's OpinionJournal.
What non-MSM websites (i.e. blogs) do you visit on a daily basis?
Besides the previously mentioned blogs, I always visit Memeorandum, Real Clear Politics, and Pajamas Media (with whom I am affiliated). I also visit the Huffington Post and Daily Kos for the entertainment value and to keep up with what's hot among the lefties.
How often, or do you ever, read a newspaper in its dead-tree (i.e. print) form?
I rarely purchase a newspaper ... but if I do, it's the Wall Street Journal.
How do you see the new media and old media affecting and influencing each other in the next five years?
Too many people see the world of media through the prism of blogs vs. MSM. The reality is that the two are complementary; the MSM, with its large budgets and professional journalists, can cover the world in a way that most bloggers, who are local by nature, can't (although all those local bloggers collectively cover the globe, as well). Bloggers can react quickly to breaking news, however, and can engage in dialogue with an immediacy that can't be matched by television or print. The reality is we are one huge disfunctional family.
]]>What is your full name?
Mark Alan Coffey.
What is your age?
37.
Where did you grow up?
Lamesa, TX -- midway between Lubbock and Midland.
Where do you live now?
Austin, TX -- a very blue city in a very red state.
What is your occupation?
Analyst.
Have you ever worked on a political campaign or for the mainstream media?
No -- though I did run for the student council years ago (and won!).
When did you start blogging and why?
I started blogging, oddly enough, after the 2004 election, thus missing the biggest traffic period. I was reading all the blogs, e-mailing friends and relatives relevant news stories, and generally doing everything but putting the content on the web. When I hit on the idea of getting an early jump on 2008, my mind was made up, and I went live on November 21st, 2004.
What has been your favorite post, or favorite story to write about, in that time?
Lately, I've been on a campaign to rename the Netroots as the Nutroots (r), but with limited success (it's not that my audience is not big enough - oh, no! Rather, like Spinal Tap, my appeal is very selective). My formation of the Coalition of the Chilling was much more successful - I was able to convince a number of prominent bloggers to joing me in decrying the harsh rhetoric that greeted the Gang of 14 Deal (a deal that has worked out remarkably well for Republicans, I might add).
Describe your typical blogging schedule. And what is your average output?
I blog on and off pretty much all day, everyday ... I enjoy it and I need to build up my audience.
And what is your average output?
I'd say probably about 7 or 8 posts a day.
Who is your favorite political blogger? Favorite non-political blogger?
Tom Maguire of JustOneMinute, hands down. A true blogger, through and through (honorable mentions to Tim Blair and Mickey Kaus). [For non-political:] Although both sometimes cover politics, amongst many other things, I really enjoy Be Be Re and NBR.
Who is your favorite mainstream media columnist?
Who is your favorite mainstream media columnist? Christopher Hitchens , without a doubt (I know I'm stretching a bit, but he is a columnist for Slate and Vanity Fair, as well as the AtlanticMonthly ).
What is your favorite television news program, either network or cable?
I like the occasional hour-long specials, like CNN Presents, but I can't abide the soundbite nature of regular news on television.
What MSM-produced websites (i.e. newspapers, magazines) do you visit on a daily basis?
The Washington Post, The New York Times, and the Wall Street Journal's OpinionJournal.
What non-MSM websites (i.e. blogs) do you visit on a daily basis?
Besides the previously mentioned blogs, I always visit Memeorandum, Real Clear Politics, and Pajamas Media (with whom I am affiliated). I also visit the Huffington Post and Daily Kos for the entertainment value and to keep up with what's hot among the lefties.
How often, or do you ever, read a newspaper in its dead-tree (i.e. print) form?
I rarely purchase a newspaper ... but if I do, it's the Wall Street Journal.
How do you see the new media and old media affecting and influencing each other in the next five years?
Too many people see the world of media through the prism of blogs vs. MSM. The reality is that the two are complementary; the MSM, with its large budgets and professional journalists, can cover the world in a way that most bloggers, who are local by nature, can't (although all those local bloggers collectively cover the globe, as well). Bloggers can react quickly to breaking news, however, and can engage in dialogue with an immediacy that can't be matched by television or print. The reality is we are one huge disfunctional family.
]]>Today the Blogometer talks to Chad Evans, who writes In The Bullpen.
What is your full name?
Chad Evans
What is your age?
27
Where did you grow up?
Dallas, TX
Where do you live now?
Dallas, TX
What is your occupation?
I operate my own small advertising agency, with more of an emphasis on media buying and promotions and less on the creative angle.
Have you ever worked on a political campaign or for the mainstream media?
No.
When did you start blogging and why?
I started blogging in July 2004 for several reasons, namely because my family and friends grew tired of my blathering on the world of politics and the GWOT. I also wanted to work on my writing skills so that I could perform more public relations duties for clients. Little did I know then that blogging has the adverse effect on journalistic writing that I previously believed.
What has been your favorite post, or favorite story to write about, in that time?
I don't have a favorite post or a favorite story. I personally find it fascinating that so little mainstream coverage has occurred on the GWOT and the threat of radical Islam, which is why after the election of 2004 I shifted my blog to cover radical Islam more than the same old political game that has infested this nation for three centuries. Yes, the bigger events are covered, but they are often without historical background or any real insight into, for instance, why Al Qaida has a fetish for the lion. I am hardly an expert, but I like to consider myself more knowledgeable on this subject than most beat writers. I did though enjoy putting together a timeline of messages released by Osama Bin Laden and picking out what I thought was the most pertinent information from those messages.
Describe your typical blogging schedule. And what is your average output?
Typical? That sounds like a nice word and a routine I should aspire towards. I blog daily, though weekends are sparsely blogged. I am not a morning person, but I try to get up a post or two in the early hours of the day before work kicks in. Since blogging by no means is my job, I don't blog just for the sake of getting something down, or up as we state in the Internet age. I only blog when there is a story or a news item I feel is important, or when inspiration strikes me.
What is your average output?
My average output has decreased over the past few months, mainly because of the monotony of items worth covering. I used to write upwards of ten posts per day, but now my output is down to around four to five posts per day. Because I don't believe in flogging our readers with useless information because, frankly, I don't have to have a certain amount of column inches to correctly place the advertisements sold, I only blog what I believe is of interest to those who want information on the GWOT. That is, with a scant post related to other events.
Who is your favorite political blogger?
We're playing hardball I see. To narrow down all of the blogs and bloggers I enjoy reading down to just one is very difficult to do, but Ed Morrisey of Captain's Quarters is at the forefront of my mind related to this question. One great thing about Morrisey's writing is that he is often concise and to the point.
Favorite non-political blogger?
Because I do not consider blogging the GWOT and radical Islam to be political despite what the politicos in Washington feel, I thoroughly enjoy reading and the friendly banter with Marc Schulman of American Future, Richard of Hyscience and Dr. Rusty Shackleford of The Jawa Report. All three of those authors and blogs are top-notch and offer different perspectives on many of the same core issues.
Who is your favorite mainstream media columnist?
Without question Mark Steyn. I don't always agree with Steyn, but I have never read an article by Steyn and not been entertained. It is his ability to incite, excite and make readers laugh that all opinion journalists should aspire to emulate. He also doesn't play the same politically correct cards most journalists do, which is one major reason why his columns are so entertaining. I also enjoy Rowan Scarborough and Bill Gertz.
What is your favorite television news program, either network or cable?
I suppose we're not talking sports otherwise it would be 'Around the Horn,' but I prefer not to watch television news programs because it is the same news over and over again with the same injected bias. My journalism professors would fail me with that answer, but television news has become an extension of print that covers the same topics on the front page for weeks, if not months, and places higher emphasis on any story involving death and destruction rather than why this particular incident occurred. The explanation stories, if printed or discussed at all, are relegated to the back pages or in television news' concept of a back page, the quick blurb.
What MSM-produced websites (i.e. newspapers, magazines) do you visit on a daily basis?
I read well over 50 worldwide newspapers/sites per day in order to get different perspectives on current events. My RSS reader makes this quest much easier. I always make a point to read Adnkronos International first thing in the morning and later in the afternoon. Depending on what topic I wish to discuss with my readers in a particular post, certain media outlets provide critical connections the U.S. media does not. Then again, the U.S. media largely is stuck in the same news cycle. For instance, The Daily Times gives insight into Pakistan and the Observer Research Foundation provides a valuable Indian perspective on current events. Even newspapers which are hostile towards my way of thinking (i.e. the Iranian state-run Islamic Republic News Agency) are in my list of daily reads because I feel to form an opinion that is valuable to our readers, I must at least consider what the opposition has to say.
What non-MSM websites (i.e. blogs) do you visit on a daily basis?
I live with my RSS reader and I have around 200 blogs that I read this way. Aside from the blogs listed above, I always make a point to visit Euphoric Reality, bRight & Early, Winds of Change, Newsbusters and of course the sites run by my co-bloggers, Interested Participant and Right Truth.
How often, or do you ever, read a newspaper in its dead-tree (i.e. print) form?
I read The Dallas Morning News daily and I have for as long as I can remember. Well, I read the sports section of my local rag at least. Once newspapers figure out to charge for Internet users, this likely will change. Let us hope they never do.
How do you see the new media and old media affecting and influencing each other in the next five years?
I am actually a proponent to what is commonly called the "old media." Most blogs are extensions of the old media. In fact, that's where my site's name In the Bullpen comes from. Rather than being a typo or wrong name from some illiterate Texas as some emails have insisted, the name is derives from my affinity for baseball with what I perceive is the role of my blog; to come into the game in a relief role and provide valuable backup and either close out the story or continue to provide the long-relief needed to storied relegated to the back pages.
Through my venture into the "new media," one thing has become abundantly clear. Most bloggers, myself included though from a different perspective, are hostile towards the MSM due to perceived bias or spin, yet we use the MSM to provide content for our blogs. The MSM on the other hand, either has a disdain for bloggers or they simply don't care what some 27 year-old living in Dallas has to say. Contrary to popular belief, if the MSM wanted to put bloggers out of business, they could easily do so. Why don't they? They don't see us as serious competition, and I don't see this changing as long as the old media is run by the same old executives that believe the Internet is a phase. By the time they figure out diverse opinions are what consumers of media crave for, it may be too late.
Some of the more hostile journalists to blogs are either from the old guard or those who have been attacked by bloggers, and frankly, they have a reason to be upset that some ordinary American whose job isn't to cover the White House Beat is questioning them. The times are changing in this regard, and these journalists are hearing the unfiltered complaints to their job performance. The concept of blogs is really nothing new, but what is new is that these letters to the editor have bypassed the middle man and reached the masses.
]]>What is your full name?
None of your business! But my pen name is Matt Welch.
What is your age?
37
Where did you grow up?
Long Beach, California.
Where do you live now?
Los Angeles, California, in the neighborhood of Silver Lake.
What is your occupation? Have you ever worked on a political campaign or for the mainstream media?
I'm the assistant editorial pages editor for the Los Angeles Times.
Yes to the latter. I have also covered campaigns, including Ralph Nader's 2000 presidential run (for WorkingForChange.com), and the 2004 major-party political conventions for Reason magazine.
When did you start blogging and why?
For my personal site, on Sept. 16, 2001, because I was pissed off about the massacre five days prior, and felt that I had things I wanted to both say and collect that my jobs at the time didn't really allow me to do. I had actually co-founded a group blog six months previous called LAexaminer.com, because I wanted there to be a site that paid attention to what Los Angeles media was saying and doing. (That mantle has been taken -- thank God -- by Kevin Roderick's LAobserved.com).
What has been your favorite post, or favorite story to write about, in that time?
I think my blogging for Reason.com from the Democratic Convention in 2004 was particularly good (for me), but it was hellaciously unpleasant to do.
I enjoy (even/especially though my readers don't) blogging in absurd depth about Angels baseball history; and I'll always treasure the emotional connections I made with readers and fellow bloggers in the first three or six months after Sept. 11.
Describe your typical blogging schedule. And what is your average output?
Don't have much of one, now that I'm working at the L.A. Times (Reason had a full-time blog to feed daily, though don't be surprised to see some stuff emanating from Spring Street sometime soon). For my personal site, I peck a few grafs away when I have the time and energy, which is to say, not so often. Maybe an hour or two on weekends, and 10 minutes here and there on weeknights.
Anymore, it's 3-6 posts a week, if that. When I was at Reason it was 3 posts a day.
Who is your favorite political blogger? Favorite non-political blogger?
That's an oxymoronic phrase. I guess these days it's whoever can write passionately about politics while still making me laugh, and one of the last people left who can do that with any regularity is "The Editors" of ThePoorman.net. Non-political: Dr. Frank.
Who is your favorite mainstream media columnist?
I'll recuse myself from those who write for the L.A. Times ... So, I like that Mike Zwerin weirdo for the International Herald Tribune
What is your favorite television news program, either network or cable?
"The Colbert Report."
What MSM-produced websites (i.e. newspapers, magazines) do you visit on a daily basis?
Again excepting my employer, probably the only one I visit every day is the blog of my *former* employer, Hit and Run.
What non-MSM websites (i.e. blogs) do you visit on a daily basis?
Sploid, Tony Pierce + Busblog, Emanuelle Richard, Halo's Heaven, 6-4-2, L.A. Observed, Baseball Think Factory, Colby Cosh, Cathy Seipp, Atrios, Instapundit, Secrecy News, Chronicles of the Lads.
How often, or do you ever, read a newspaper in its dead-tree (i.e. print) form?
At least once a day.
How do you see the new media and old media affecting and influencing each other in the next five years?
To the extent that we won't really be distinguishing much between the two phrases anymore; maybe we'll use "legacy media" to talk about the big newspapers/broadcast networks. The whole End of Mass Media period will continue to produce fascinating paradoxes (such as: even while bleeding audience, Legacy Media companies will continue printing money) and conflicts with the upstarts. It will continue to be the best time for journalism and media in our history.
THOUGHT OF THE DAY: The Reclamation Project
At Huffington Post, Liberal Oasis' Bill Scher explains "Why I Am Not A Progressive": "For better or for worse, 'liberal' and 'conservative' are part of the American political lexicon, and the mainstream media reflexively uses those terms to define our ideological spectrum," and "despite the pounding 'liberal' has taken from Republicans, the solution is not to run further away from the word. That only makes the problem worse. As much as we may dislike labels, we can't dismiss them." More: "By taking to the airwaves, the letters page and the blogs, we can take the lead in re-associating "liberal" with the values and beliefs that speak to Americans' struggles and desires in an insecure economy and a destabilized world: responsive government, sound management, shared responsibility, personal freedom and the spread of liberty and prosperity, not destruction and hypocrisy, across the globe."
]]>What is your full name?
William Frank Roggio
What is your age?
36
Where did you grow up?
Blackwood, New Jersey
Where do you live now?
Medford, New Jersey
What is your occupation? Have you ever worked on a political campaign or for the mainstream media?
Mainframe Software Analyst.
I have not worked for a political campaign. I have had articles published, but I don't think this counts as working for the mainstream media.
When did you start blogging and why?
I started blogging in March of 2004. The coverage of the war was (and still is) sub-par in my opinion, and lacked context, particularly in the area of military operations and the fight against al-Qaeda. I decided to write to help sort out my own thoughts, and for friends and family to see what I have to say. Since I am prior military, they tend to ask me questions.
What has been your favorite post, or favorite story to write about, in that time?
My favorite post (or series of posts) was the "The Anbar Campaign," which described the joint Iraqi and Coalition effort to disrupt and uproot al-Qaeda and the insurgency in western Iraq, and establish a permanent presence in each of the major towns and cities along the Euphrates River. The was a story the media was missing. By closely tracking the operations over time, I was able to predict the order and timing of future operations in the region. I also created a Flash presentation to give a visual on the operation. The reporting and analysis gained the attention of the Marines fighting in Anbar. I subsequently was invited to embed with the Marines by Colonel Stephen Davis, the commanding officer of Regimental Combat Team 2, and took him up on the offer. I embedded in Anbar province for one month, witnessed the historic December 15, 2005 election and was able to see the progress made in the region I covered from afar. The embed reports from Iraq are also some of my favorite posts.
Describe your typical blogging schedule. And what is your average output?
Writing is the easy part which typically only takes a few hours a day. It is the reading, research and gathering of links which occupies the most time. I am constantly monitoring the news for information, as well as reading military blogs and military press releases. As I work a full time job, this often mean late nights reading and writing.
I typically post once or twice a day, depending on the day's developments, and the posts are typically 600-800 words in length, with hyperlinks footnoting all of the articles or posts I have read that pertain to the post.
Who is your favorite political blogger? Favorite non-political blogger?
I'm not sure this is a blog, but I'd say James Taranto at The Wall Street Journal's "Best of the Web" is my favorite political blog. Non-political: The Counterterrorism Blog
Who is your favorite mainstream media columnist?
Who is your favorite mainstream media columnist? I have several: Charles Krauthammer, Jack Kelly, Christopher Hitchens, Victor Davis Hanson, Mark Steyn, for starters.
What is your favorite television news program, either network or cable?
I never watch the network or cable news. I have found they are often days behind what is available on the web.
What MSM-produced websites (i.e. newspapers, magazines) do you visit on a daily basis?
What MSM-produced websites (i.e. newspapers, magazines) do you visit on a daily basis? Wall Street Journal , Weekly Standard,National Review Online , New York Times, Washington Post, Christian Science Monitor, Associated Press, Reuters, Daily Times (Pakistan), Asharq Alawsat... and a bunch more. The RSS news reader is a great tool...
What non-MSM websites (i.e. blogs) do you visit on a daily basis?
What non-MSM websites (i.e. blogs) do you visit on a daily basis? The Counterterrorism Blog , Instapundit, Belmont Club, The Adventures of Chester, Rantburg, Regnum Crucis, Security Watchtower, Best of the Web, Blackfive, Mudville Gazette, Real Clear Politics, Irish Pennants, Terrorism Unveiled, Thomas Joscelyn, Soldier's Dad.
How often, or do you ever, read a newspaper in its dead-tree (i.e. print) form?
Only if I forget my laptop when going to an office visit and have to pick up a Time or Newsweek (cellular wireless Internet is another wonderful creation). Most of the papers publish their stories online, and I would rather read articles on the computer. No ink, no folding papers, and no place for the cats to sit while reading. Plus, since I save the links I will use in future posts, it would be additional work to actually look up that article I read.
How do you see the new media and old media affecting and influencing each other in the next five years?
There is certainly a lot of hostility between the two parties. I feel that both parties have much to offer each other, and there will be some form of intersection between the two groups. The good blogs are focused and provided a unique perspective, expert analysis and unique content often missing from the media sites. The old media has a vast amount of resources bloggers can only dream of having. The more creative news and media organizations are starting their own blogs and some are even inviting outside bloggers to join. I believe there will be further a co-opting of blogs and integration of blogs into the media websites. But many blogs will continue to scorn the media, and vise versa. I do not believe the blogs will overtake the media, or the media will collapse, or the blogs will fade away.
]]>What is your full name?
William Howard Hobbs
What is your age?
41
Where did you grow up?
Delaware County, PA, a suburb of Philadelphia.
Where do you live now?
Franklin, TN, a suburb of Nashville.
What is your occupation? Have you ever worked on a political campaign or for the mainstream media?
I currently work in the public relations office of a private university in Nashville. I served as a press assistant for mayoral candidate Jay West during the final four months of the 1999 Nashville mayoral campaign until the primary. He came in third. My first career was as a newspaper journalist -- I have worked for, in order, the Abilene (Texas) Reporter-News, The Lubbock (Texas) Avalanche-Journal, the Clarksville (Tenn.) Leaf-Chronicle, the Nashville Business Journal, and the Nashville Tennessean, all of that as a reporter covering crime and courts, general assignments, and a variety of business beats. From 1994-1997 I worked as a writer and then managing editor of a monthly country music magazine, and from 1993-2000 I also freelanced for a variety of publications including industrial trades, daily newspapers and business magazines. For a few months in 2001 I worked for a now-defunct Tennessee policy think tank.
I wrote a weekly column from January 2001 to May 2002 on business, public policy and economic issues for Nashville City Paper, and made numerous radio and television appearances in connection with the column. I currently do freelance corporate blog consulting for several blue-chip clients, and have edited two business books.
When did you start blogging and why?
November 2000. I started my blog as an adjunct to my City Paper column, where I could provide my column readers with more information, links to documents I mentioned in the column, longer analysis, etc. After the column ended in May 2002, I simple kept writing the blog. Also, from March through May of 2002 I wrote a satirical blog, Osama's Bin Bloggin.
What has been your favorite post, or favorite story to write about, in that time?
I've done extensive original journalism and research-based commentary on Tennessee's tax and budget situation that has helped influence MSM coverage in a more accurate direction, and also helped put the Taxpayers Bill of Rights firmly on the political radar screen in Tennessee, so that would have to be my favorite overall focus on my blog. I also write about religion, the war, the media and much more. Being an ex-journalist, or should I say a reformed journalist, I love examining media bias and doing media crit. In that vein, my favorite post would be this one, in which I took a Maureen Dowd column and added a few helpful hyperlinks to help Ms. Dowd make her points more effectively.
Describe your typical blogging schedule. And what is your average output?
Until a couple months ago, I would post 8-12 times per day, ranging from short items to longer, in-depth pieces that took a lot of time to research and compile. Late in 2005 I scaled back somewhat, doing fewer long pieces and more simple linking to things in the press and the blogosphere that I think my readers should read. On Jan. 10 I put my blog on hiatus thanks to a crushing work and freelance load and an ongoing medical-crisis situation in my family, and also to reevaluate where I go from here. I do expect to resume blogging at some point, and am in the beginning stages of launching a multi-author site, TennesseeVoices.com, focused on Tennessee politics, and perhaps a couple other sites. There is a very healthy Tennessee political blogosphere now with several other bloggers now also doing the same kind of work that I had done and, as my goal is to have a large number of skilled volunteer blog-journalists doing the kind of in-depth reporting and analysis that the Tennessee MSM does less and less of, I'm happy to see others doing the kind of daily blogging that I had been doing.
Who is your favorite political blogger? Favorite non-political blogger?
Captain's Quarters is awesome, as are the Powerline guys. At the Tennessee level, it would be Bob Krumm and Blake Wylie of the Nashville Files blog, and Jeff Cornwall of The Entrepreneurial Mind. My favorite non-political blogger would be Tod Bolsinger of It Takes a Church and Terry Heaton's Pomo Blog, where he writes about post-modern media.
Who is your favorite mainstream media columnist?
It used to be George Will, but I rarely read him any more. Now it's Krauthammer. And Ledeen. And Mark Steyn. And David Warren. And Victor Davis Hanson.
What is your favorite television news program, either network or cable?
I don't watch TV news very much. Too shallow and repetitive. Plus, my son is usually watching "Barney" or "Jay Jay the Jet Plane."
What MSM-produced websites (i.e. newspapers, magazines) do you visit on a daily basis?
Tennessean.com, NYTimes.com, NashvilleCityPaper.com, WashingtonPost.com, Google News (which leads me to all kinds of sources from all over the world).
What non-MSM websites (i.e. blogs) do you visit on a daily basis?
Instapundit, Powerline, Captains Quarters, Nashville Is Talking, Donald Sensing , Thunder 6 and Dr. Jeff Cornwall's The Entrepreneurial Mind, which I helped him start.
How often, or do you ever, read a newspaper in its dead-tree (i.e. print) form?
It's part of my job to scan the local papers every day, but most of my "newspaper" reading is online.
How do you see the new media and old media affecting and influencing each other in the next five years?
Newspapers and old media will become more blogcentric, and independent bloggers acting as journalists will increasingly impact MSM coverage. I write often about the interplay of blogs and media, and the rise of what I call "collaborative peer-reviewed journalism." Some of those posts are here, here and here.
My interest in the interplay of blogs and media is what led me to help organize the May 2005 BlogNashville conference at Belmont University in Nashville. ( www.blognashville.org ). About 300 bloggers and new-media people came, including Glenn Reynolds, Dan Gillmor, J.D. Lasica, Hoder, Rebecca McKinnon, Ed Cone, Mark Tapscott, Henry Copeland, Robin Burk, Dave Winer, LaShawn Barber, Robert Cox, Linda Seebach, Mark Glaser and many more.
]]>What is your full name?
Pamela aka Atlas
What is your age?
Uh... you're kidding right?
Where did you grow up?
South Shore -- Long Island, heh.
Where do you live now?
New York City and Long Island.
What is your occupation? Have you ever worked on a political campaign or for the mainstream media?
I am the former publisher of The New York Observer, I left that working world for the altogether different working world of shaping the future, raising, rearing my girls to be citizens of the world and to make a difference, tough when our culture deifies Lil Kim. I am a stay at home ma. And no, I have never worked in any political campaign or in any political capacity.
When did you start blogging and why?
The short answer, it's the end of the world as we know it. And the complacency and diversionary media's antics post 9/11 border on sedition. I finally started blogging a year ago out of sheer frustration with the lack of veracity -- intellectual honesty -- in the media at this most grave moment is history. The dearth-of-objective-news vacuum was huge and the Blogosphere came to my intellectual rescue and IMHO the rescue of the free world. Posting to Little Green Footballs just wasn't enough. I wanted to do something, Effect change.
What has been your favorite post, or favorite story to write about, in that time?
I wrote an op-ed piece as a rebut to a ridiculous, mendacious article on the presidential election in a small local newspaper and reposted it on Little Green Footballs (to which I owe all my blogging efforts). I subsequently posted it retroactively on my blog. That post was the zygote, the first cell of the birth of my blog. "The Case for War" cut through the left wing propaganda and asked America what hard choices we would make and why.
The media and the all news cable channels continue to abdicate their role as responsible disseminators of information, they avoid the most serious issues of the day, sedating a willing American public into this false sense of security. Their opinion (generally leftist) has replaced the news. There are a great many people in America that have been reeducated to believe that 9/11 was a couple of guys that got lucky. This, in spite of the wild rhetoric, daily terror and acts of war perpetuated by Radical Islam across the world. If anything Bush is a victim of his own success, protecting us as well as he has. And the "FISA" nonsense is the left's attempt to disable Bush's ability to continue to do that and to take him down as well.
Describe your typical blogging schedule. And what is your average output?
My blogging schedule is nuts and has taken over my life... any free moment for the blog, I blog. Get up, get outta bed, drag a comb across the kid's head. Head 'em up, move 'em out... hit the newspapers and best news sites, check the emails, start writing. Attend to personal biz... hit the blog, the emails, the news, the tips, everyday is different. I chose my social outings carefully, mostly War on Radical Islam will get my attention. Sometimes I find I have been blogging all night, it's 6 am and so I nod out for a half hour then do the kid thang.
I am so impassioned by it because we are working against a clock, a scary clock. And we have got to get the word to as many people s possible as fast as we can. The world is at war, pretending it to be anything else will be fatal.
Who is your favorite political blogger? Favorite non-political blogger?
Little Green Footballs. Hands down. When the history books are written, Charles Johnson will surely go down as a great American that made a critical difference between victory and defeat. His role has been largely ignored but so what? Most of the greats are ignored in their time. Van Gogh was ignored in his time too, although I don't think Charles can draw... but you get my meaning. The media wants Charles and the blogs for that matter to just go away. But just the opposite is happening, the blogs are dictating the national dialog. What's on the blogs today, is in the news 3,4 sometimes a week later.
Look, I ran those Mohammed cartoons u back in October. I cut the one with the turban out of The New York Post and scanned it and ran it back then but the MSM ignored it until it was rammed down their throat.
Nonpolitical blogs? You mean there is such a thing? I haven't a clue.
Who is your favorite mainstream media columnist?
Thomas Sowell
What is your favorite television news program, either network or cable?
"The Beltway Boys," that Fred Barnes rocks, is such a stud.
What MSM-produced websites (i.e. newspapers, magazines) do you visit on a daily basis?
New York Sun -- best newspaper, hands down, WSJ's Taranto and Political Journal, my Yahoo newspage, Weekly Standard, YNET, Dr. Jack Wheeler's To The Point, Townhall, NRO's The Corner and honestly, I am so all over the map it changes but those are mainstays.
What non-MSM websites (i.e. blogs) do you visit on a daily basis?
Always Little Green Footballs, I check out Glenn, Roger, adore Wretchard's Belmont Club, Malkin (of course), Tom over at Bizzy Blog should have been Greenspan's replacement, CUANAS just started a brilliant little gem -- Infidels Bloggers Alliance, Jihad Watch, No Pasaran, Vital Perspectives, there are so many... check my blogroll.
How often, or do you ever, read a newspaper in its dead-tree (i.e. print) form?
I dig the Sun, I can not lie...
How do you see the new media and old media affecting and influencing each other in the next five years?
The MOST SIGNIFICANT shift in the news paradigm is the role that media plays. No longer sufficient in merely bringing us the News, the American public must now choose its disseminator, its sifter, filter, prism and demand thorough and complete journalism but one with a moral compass because a press is prejudicial when they are unable (or unwilling) to distinguish between terrorists and the victims of terror.
I am not one that believes that big media is dead. Much like in marketing when direct mail became the big thang and that it would kill print, or that television would kill cinema, the blogosphere is an "in addition to." A critical piece of the media puzzle, one that will finally make "an honest woman" of the MSM. The MSM can no longer go off half cocked. Back in 2000, whe)n the MSM dropped the DUI bomb on Bush just days before the election, it really hurt him.
In 2004 when the MSM dropped that AWOL bomb on Bush, Charles Johnson of Little Green Footballs was there to counter with the truth and it absolutely changed the course of the Presidency, and history. So the blogs are necessary. Most necessary and the blogosphere will grow exponetially and replicate the media landscape of Lincoln, crowded , loud, opinionated, electric and diverse. Yes, wildly diverse. We will all co-exist, feed off each other. The difference will be where the American people choose to get their news. The cat is out of the bag. hOOha!
]]>What is your full name?
Matt Stoller
What is your age?
28
Where did you grow up?
Miami, FL
Where do you live now?
DC
What is your occupation? Have you ever worked on a political campaign or for the mainstream media?
I am a full-time blogger in DC. I have worked for both campaigns and in the traditional media.
When did you start blogging and why?
I started in 2002 because I was bored at work and increasingly angry about politics.
What has been your favorite post, or favorite story to write about, in that time?
I enjoyed writing about the conventions.
Describe your typical blogging schedule. And what is your average output?
I write when I have something to say. That often means one or two posts a day, but it could be more or less depending on whether I have anything to add about the political environment.
Who is your favorite political blogger? Favorite non-political blogger?
Political blogger: Digby. Non-political blogger: Go Fug Yourself.
Who is your favorite mainstream media columnist?
Paul Krugman
What is your favorite television news program, either network or cable?
"The Colbert Report"
What MSM-produced websites (i.e. newspapers, magazines) do you visit on a daily basis?
I like the Inside Edge from PoliticsNJ, the Hotline blog, The Fix from the Washington Post.
What non-MSM websites (i.e. blogs) do you visit on a daily basis?
Atrios, Daily Kos, Firedoglake, Digby, Political Wire.
How often, or do you ever, read a newspaper in its dead-tree (i.e. print) form?
Once every couple of weeks.
How do you see the new media and old media affecting and influencing each other in the next five years?
Well I'm not sure, because a lot depends on the funding streams. Getting good information is expensive. It just is, ask any scientist. Getting entertaining opinion is cheap. Yet the system compensates based on smooth bland opinionating, and so that's what is prioritized. It would be easy to say that there are two parallel systems, one that is MSM and one that is blogs, and they are fighting or they are complementary. The reality is that this analysis is facile and does not hold up. It's unfair to journalists and bloggers who spend their time digging up good information, and it's unfair to the punditocracy who are left accountable to nothing except cocktail party gossip and a royal courtier mentality.
Ultimately how media develops is a political question, not one of markets or business. As far as I can tell, neither Fox News nor MSNBC is profitable (cash flow positive, possibly, but neither has recouped initial investments). So there's a logic to their existence that goes beyond the 'free market'. There's no accountability there as far as I can tell, and that was true before blogs.
Do Tim Russert and Chris Matthews take massive speaking fees from trade associations? Do journalists/pundits/bloggers still aspire to eschew genuine expertise in favor of appearing on television? Is there a revenue model for local blogging? I don't know the answer to any of these questions. It just seems to me that there's a payola/accountability issue here that is largely unexplored because in one form or another, exploring it threatens the livelihood of those around you. Whether we address these important questions over the next five years will largely determine what happens to both internet and non-internet based media. A media system is only as honest as its moral underpinning and commitment to accountability.
]]>What is your full name?
Tyler Cowen
What is your age?
44 years old.
Where did you grow up?
Bergen County, New Jersey, with a brief stint in Fall River, Massachusetts and a birth in Kearny, NJ.
Where do you live now?
I enjoy the northern Virginia suburbs. Our home is in Fairfax.
What is your occupation? Have you ever worked on a political campaign or for the mainstream media?
I am a university professor and have been so since I started working twenty years ago. I have never worked on a political campaign nor for the mainstream media.
When did you start blogging and why?
Eugene Volokh asked me to join Volokh Conspiracy. After that, I started an economics blog, sensing a void in the market. Blogging is a good way to force yourself to learn something new every day.
What has been your favorite post, or favorite story to write about, in that time?
I most enjoy blogging about the economics of personal life, including love, sex, and marriage.
Describe your typical blogging schedule. And what is your average output?
I average three posts a day. I'll write drafts at all times of the day, and revise them periodically. Usually they are up first thing in the morning but drafted over the previous two or three days.
Who is your favorite political blogger? Favorite non-political blogger?
Who counts as a political blogger? I like Jane Galt, Matt Yglesias, Brad DeLong, Daniel Drezner, and many others. All of them are best when they do not fit comfortably into either the "political" or "non-political" categories. Jason Kottke is another favorite.
Who is your favorite mainstream media columnist?
The mainstream media is not a good medium for serious analysis. I don't blame this on anyone in particular. I like Virginia Postrel's periodic columns for The New York Times.
What is your favorite television news program, either network or cable?
"Primer Impacto," on Univision. By far.
What MSM-produced websites (i.e. newspapers, magazines) do you visit on a daily basis?
CNN is about it. I love MSM but the web is not their comparative advantage. Slate.com is excellent and you could count that as MSM since it is now owned by the Washington Post.
What non-MSM websites (i.e. blogs) do you visit on a daily basis?
Check out the blogroll at MarginalRevolution.com, which includes most of the major economics blogs. Plus I read some science blogs and like to scan for new blogs, on more or less a random basis.
How often, or do you ever, read a newspaper in its dead-tree (i.e. print) form?
I love newspapers and read at least five a day. I think you can guess which ones. Few pursuits are for me more fun. I also get a good fifteen magazines or so, often in the areas of culture and food.
How do you see the new media and old media affecting and influencing each other in the next five years?
I don't see blogs overtaking old media. The real threat to old media is from Craigslist and eBay, which siphon off classified ads and thus revenue. I don't think the newspaper industry is in a feasible long-run equilibrium, but I don't blame blogs. Blogs are probably a bigger threat to paper niche media and Op-Ed pages. It remains to be seen how much blogs and mainstream media can merge. MSM is nervous about the different journalistic standards for blogs, potential legal liability, and damage to their brand. It is no accident that MSM is bland in tone and bloggers make jokes and offer up the occasional outrageous post. I see synergies, but MSM has to cope with declining readership and declining ad revenue.
]]>What is your full name?
Peter Daou
What is your age?
40
Where did you grow up?
Beirut, Lebanon
Where do you live now?
New York City
What is your occupation? Have you ever worked on a political campaign or for the mainstream media?
I'm a political consultant. More specifically, a blog and online communications consultant to political organizations and campaigns. I ran blog outreach and online rapid response for the Kerry-Edwards campaign in '04. I've never worked in the traditional media.
When did you start blogging and why?
I started posting on political message boards in 2001 and blogs in 2003 as a way to broaden my political views and to sharpen my debating skills. There's no better place to match wits and argue politics than blogs. And as anyone who does this can attest, there are a lot of smart bloggers who will cut you down to size pretty quickly.
What has been your favorite post, or favorite story to write about, in that time?
Lately I've been fascinated by the intricate relationship between bloggers, the traditional media and the political establishment. I've written a series of extended blog entries discussing the netroots-media-establishment 'triangle' and how the various parts interact.
Describe your typical blogging schedule. And what is your average output?
Since I do this for a living, I start around 8am and stop only for an afternoon gym break. I'm back at my computer in the evening for another few hours. Weekends are only slightly less blog-centric. I make a point not to discuss blogs with my wife over dinner, so that's another hour or so to clear my head.
Who is your favorite political blogger? Favorite non-political blogger?
James Wolcott and James Wolcott.
Who is your favorite mainstream media columnist?
Favorites include Blumenthal, Krugman, Dionne.
What is your favorite television news program, either network or cable?
Do you mean which one is the least offensive? Probably the network nightly news broadcasts.
What MSM-produced websites (i.e. newspapers, magazines) do you visit on a daily basis?
All the major traditional outlets: NY Times, Washington Post, BBC, CNN, etc.
What non-MSM websites (i.e. blogs) do you visit on a daily basis?
The Daou Report is a non-partisan blog aggregator, so I visit hundreds of left, right, and center blogs every day.
How often, or do you ever, read a newspaper in its dead-tree (i.e. print) form?
Almost never, unless I'm on the road and one is placed in front of my hotel door.
How do you see the new media and old media affecting and influencing each other in the next five years?
Despite the symbiotic nature of the relationship, the antagonism we're seeing now won't diminish for a long time, if ever. Bloggers are fed up with the insidious agenda foisted on an unsuspecting public by politically 'neutral' reporters, reporters are sick of the microscopic attention paid to their every word by bloggers.
]]>What is your full name?
Edward Morrissey.
What is your age?
42.
Where did you grow up?
I grew up (to the extent I ever did) in Cerritos, California, a suburb of Los Angeles.
Where do you live now?
Twin Cities area of Minnesota. I've been here for eight years.
What is your occupation? Have you ever worked on a political campaign or for the mainstream media?
I'm a call center manager. I've never worked as an employee of the media, although I've written some free-lance commentary for hire. I volunteered for Bush 41's 1988 presidential campaign and knocked on a few doors, but that's been the extent of my political career. My uncle was a two-term Assemblyman in California (Jim Morrissey).
When did you start blogging and why?
I started blogging in October 2003. I started for the same reasons most others do -- an opportunity to add my voice, unedited, to the debate. I had written letters to the local newspapers and even had a couple of op-ed pieces published, but I wanted my own forum.
What has been your favorite post, or favorite story to write about, in that time?
I had so many great stories come my way, it would be difficult to pick one. The story that has been the best for me is the Canadian finance scandals. I made a lot of new friends in Canada and helped to inform Canadians of the corruption.
Describe your typical blogging schedule. And what is your average output?
I typically write for a couple of hours in the morning and a couple of hours at night, and I'll post anywhere between 5-10 posts a day, most days.
Who is your favorite political blogger? Favorite non-political blogger?
My favorite political bloggers? I have too many to give a complete list, but Michelle Malkin and Hugh Hewitt have to top the list. My radio-show comrades from Fraters Libertas, Power Line, Shot In The Dark, and SCSU Scholars rank pretty high, too. Non-political blogger? I don't spend a lot of time on non-political blogs. The closest would have to be The Anchoress, whose posts on Catholic spirituality and religion are simply astounding.
Who is your favorite mainstream media columnist?
Again, I have several favorites. Howard Kurtz at the Washington Post is a must-read. Jack Shafer at Slate, Jack Kelly at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Michael Ledeen at NRO, Stephen Hayes at the Weekly Standard, many more I'm probably forgetting. I like E.J. Dionne at the Post even though we rarely agree on much.
What is your favorite television news program, either network or cable?
"Special Report" by Brit Hume. I rarely watch TV news on networks or cable; the format lends itself to very superficial reporting. I do like Abbi Tatton and Jacki Schechner at CNN and their coverage of the blogs.
What MSM-produced websites (i.e. newspapers, magazines) do you visit on a daily basis?
Washington Post, CNN, New York Times, Washington Times, New York Sun, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, LA Times, Yahoo news feeds, the BBC, the Guardian and the Telegraph in the UK, the London Times, Slate, and more.
What non-MSM websites (i.e. blogs) do you visit on a daily basis?
Besides the ones I mentioned above, I also visit The Moderate Voice, All Things Beautiful, Tapscott's Copy Desk, Heritage Foundation, QandO, Just One Minute, The Corner, Strange Women Lying In Ponds, and of course Instapundit.
How often, or do you ever, read a newspaper in its dead-tree (i.e. print) form?
Only when I'm in a waiting room.
How do you see the new media and old media affecting and influencing each other in the next five years?
I believe that both will make each other stronger and more responsive. The New Media cannot replace the Old Media's reach and flexibility, and the Old Media cannot compete with the diversity of voices in the New Media. In five years, they will appear more complementary than antagonistic. In ten years, no one will understand how we operated without both.
]]>What is your full name?
Jack M. Balkin.
What is your age?
49.
Where did you grow up?
Prairie Village, Kansas, a suburb of Kansas City; at age 8 my family moved across the state line to Kansas City, Missouri.
Where do you live now?
Branford, Connecticut, about 13 miles east of New Haven.
What is your occupation? Have you ever worked on a political campaign or for the mainstream media?
I'm a law professor at Yale, and I'm the director of Yale's Information Society Project. I've never worked on a political campaign or the mainstream media.
When did you start blogging and why?
I started in January 2003. The ISP held a conference on blogging in the fall of 2002 and I met Glenn Reynolds, who later convinced me that blogging would be good for me. As in so many other things, Glenn is irresistible.
I started blogging because I was increasingly concerned about the direction of the country and I wanted to express my views about law and politics in public. This concern started, I think, with the Clinton impeachment and the 2000 election. I thought it was important to take public stands on matters that I had pretty much been silent about through most of my adulthood. However, I found the system of submitting op-eds to newspapers and magazines quite constraining; it was very hard to get access and when you did there was a lot of rewriting to please editors (who often continued to edit without one's permission); the result often wasn't worth the extra effort and annoyance. I loved the format of blogs, which allowed me to do political commentary one day, and pretty serious academic writing the next.
What has been your favorite post, or favorite story to write about, in that time?
I don't have one favorite post, but I've enjoyed using the blog to think out loud about constitutional law; I often use the blog as a scratchpad for my scholarly writing. Some of my favorite posts show how something happening in politics stems from how the larger constitutional system works. I'm surprised that I have ended up blogging so much about constitutional law, because my scholarly (and non- scholarly) interests are much more wide ranging.
Describe your typical blogging schedule. And what is your average output?
I often blog early in the morning when I get up, or late at night before I go to bed. My output is notoriously variable. Some weeks I'll publish something almost every day, and there have been times when I've gone for weeks without publishing anything at all. That's one reason why I converted what was originally a solo effort into a group blog, with some very fine people, who, I think, have made some wonderful contributions to public discourse.
Who is your favorite political blogger? Favorite non-political blogger?
Fafblog, on both counts.
Who is your favorite mainstream media columnist?
I don't really have one; but I enjoy Paul Krugman's polemics on the left and David Brooks and George Will on the right always say something that gets me thinking, even when I disagree with them, which I often do. Rosa Brooks, who I've known for many years, is a recent entrant who I think is doing splendid work.
What is your favorite television news program, either network or cable?
I seem to watch news on television less and less these days, because the quality is increasingly disappointing, but every now and then I check in on the Jim Lehrer "Newshour," "Washington Week in Review," and "The Daily Show."
What MSM-produced websites (i.e. newspapers, magazines) do you visit on a daily basis?
I read the New York Times and the Washington Post almost every day.
What non-MSM websites (i.e. blogs) do you visit on a daily basis?
I don't have a daily list, but I tend to check in regularly with The Volokh Conspiracy, Andrew Sullivan, Kevin Drum, Josh Marshall, TAPPED, How Appealing, Legal Theory Blog, SCOTUS Blog, and TPM Cafe (including Matthew Ygelsias).
How often, or do you ever, read a newspaper in its dead-tree (i.e. print) form?
Perhaps only once or twice a week, usually on Sundays.
How do you see the new media and old media affecting and influencing each other in the next five years?
Although bloggers like to think of themselves as bravely checking and critiquing old media, and parts of old media still regard bloggers as uncouth, unaccountable, and unreliable, in fact new media and old media (viewed both as a set of distinctive technologies and as a set of persons and social practices) have effectively merged much more than either would care to admit.
Reporters now regularly use bloggers, particularly expert bloggers, as sources for their stories. Newspapers, television networks and newsmagazines increasingly incorporate interactive elements in their online versions, sponsor their own blogs, and provide linkbacks to the blogs that discuss their stories. These trends, which have begun in earnest in the past year or so, will only accelerate as time goes on, as traditional media organizations work out the kinks of how to integrate interactivity into their business models. (Eventually, of course, broadcast television and internet video will merge as content delivery methods, and online delivery of text will increasingly dominate paper delivery.)
The most heavily linked to opinion and expert blogs, and aggregator blogs (i.e., blogs which primarily collect links to what other blogs are doing) make it increasingly easy for mainstream media to know what is going on in the blogosphere and to use this as information sources, as ideas or raw materials for new stories, and as a rough estimate of public opinion.
Interactivity will transform old media, which will not give up the ghost, but will instead use its considerable political and financial clout to draw important elements of the blogosphere ever closer to it, coopting and transforming them, even though many parts of the blogosphere will always remain beyond old media's grasp.
What mainstream media has to offer the blogosphere are money, advertising and links (i.e., traffic). Although the structure of the Internet guarantees that bloggers can generate some degree of traffic on their own, mainstream media platforms, because of their prominence, will help secure a disproportionate share of traffic and attention, and therefore will become (even more than today) important nodal points in the blogosphere, much to the chagrin of some bloggers and the delight of others.
Of course, the more that old media tries to coopt the blogosphere, the more it will itself be transformed. The result, I am afraid, will not be an unalloyed victory for decentralization or democracy, nor will it represent the end of powerful shapers of public opinion who occasionally abuse their power. Rather, it will instead produce a different distribution of power and a different set of dangers and responsibilities.
Just as political parties learned how to manipulate mainstream media in order to structure public debate and deliver their preferred messages, they are learning how to coopt, manipulate (and in some cases become part of) the blogosphere in order to shape public opinion. Increasingly, opinion makers (both in political parties and in the business world) have a multi-pronged strategy that attempts to influence both old and new media. Although the blogosphere regards itself as far too large and too diffuse to be manipulated by powerful political and financial interests, this is surely not so, and the degree of this influence will become even more obvious as time goes on. Nevertheless, the decentralization of the blogosphere and its characteristic architecture (of log normal or powerlaw distributions) allows a degree of countervailing power, which, I continue to hope, will not be extinguished. The revolution is real.
]]>What is your full name?
Edward B. Driscoll, Jr.
What is your age?
Over 40 and climbing.
Where did you grow up?
Burlington, New Jersey, a small suburb located between Philadelphia and Trenton.
Where do you live now?
Just outside of San Jose, California.
What is your occupation? Have you ever worked on a political campaign or for the mainstream media?
I'm a freelance journalist who writes regularly for a variety of magazines, primarily consumer electronics publications, including PC World, Videomaker, Electronic House, Servo, TechLiving, and also music publications such as Vintage Guitar, and Computer Music, a UK -- based publication. And on the Web, for Tech Central Station and Blogcritics. I've also written for National Review Online and The Weekly Standard, and I'm a paid contributor to Pajamas Media.com. (But I've never worked on any political campaign.)
When did you start blogging and why?
Around 1999, I began reading self-published e-zines, such as Virginia Postrel's, which was -- and is-a frequent destination of mine. Back then, I associated Weblogs solely with online diaries. Shortly before 9/11, I Googled my name, and discovered a Website called "InstaPundit" had linked to a piece I had written for National Review. That was the first time I noticed someone using Blogger.com other than as a diary, and the proverbial light bulb went off in my head.
In February of 2002, I wrote an article about this "New, New Journalism," and interviewed several bloggers about 9/11 and its aftermath, including Reynolds, and original milblogger "Sgt. Stryker." Both fellows permalinked me when my blog launched the following month, so I really hit the ground running.
What has been your favorite post, or favorite story to write about, in that time?
That the post-9/11 world has become the post-objective journalism world, for both better and worse. There had long been rare, scattershot admissions from the media about their bias, but before the Blogosphere, "the MSM" almost invariably billed themselves unbiased and objective, about as often and with as much believability as the Coneheads insisting that Remulak was a small town in France. The Blogosphere dramatically changed this, along with veteran journalists finally going on the record. Eventually, during the run-up to the election last year, then-New York Times ombudsman Daniel Okrent wrote his blockbuster op-ed admitting the Gray Lady's bias. This was followed shortly by the whole RatherGate debacle.
Describe your typical blogging schedule. And what is your average output?
Essentially, I blog when I want, about what I want. So depending upon other writing deadlines, I'll blog either a few hours a day, or more, or none at all. And if I'm traveling, as long as I have access to a broadband connection of some sort, I'll blog a little when time permits.
Who is your favorite political blogger? Favorite non -- political blogger?
Reynolds, Postrel, Charles Johnson, Roger L. Simon, Hugh Hewitt and Orrin Judd all immediately come to mind, and there are dozens of others.
I'm not sure if The Bleat fits the exact definition of a blog, but James Lileks.
Who is your favorite mainstream media columnist?
Non -- blogging columnists I admire include: Mark Steyn, Charles Krauthammer, Jonah Goldberg, Brian Anderson.
What is your favorite television news program, either network or cable?
Probably "Special Report With Brit Hume", though I watch much less TV news than I did prior to following Weblogs. Unless a huge story is breaking, I just find myself preferring to get my news through the 'Net, in as much or as little quantity as I want about a particular story, rather than the soundbite format dictated by the limits of television's format.
What MSM -- produced websites (i.e. newspapers, magazines) do you visit on a daily basis?
At this point, mostly those linked to by bloggers.
What non -- MSM websites (i.e. blogs) do you visit on a daily basis?
See above.
How often, or do you ever, read a newspaper in its dead -- tree (i.e. print) form?
Very, very rarely these days -- usually only if traveling.
How do you see the new media and old media affecting and influencing each other in the next five years?
I see the two converging. After several years of thumbing their noses at bloggers, increasingly, newspapers and other forms of Big Media are adding blogs to their Websites, whether they're staffed in -- house, or outside productions such as Blogcritics. And blogs are more and more starting to add features once thought of as strictly the province of the MSM: multimedia (both audio and increasingly video), original reportage, and long -- form posts that at their best, rival or surpass the content of traditional publications.
]]>What is your full name?
I go by DavidNYC online.
What is your age?
28
Where did you grow up?
Believe it or not, New York City.
Where do you live now?
Washington, DC -- but headed back to NYC in May.
What is your occupation? Have you ever worked on a political campaign or for the mainstream media?
I'm a law student (soon to be an attorney, hopefully). I've worked on campaigns for Eliot Spitzer (twice) and Howard Dean. The closest I ever got to joining the mainstream media was taking classified ads for a local Long Island paper when I was a teenager.
When did you start blogging and why?
I created the Swing State Project in October of 2003. At the time, most people were focusing on the Democratic primaries. I said to myself, "We're going to have a nominee no matter what. What I want to know is, how will that guy -- whoever he is -- beat George Bush?" So I developed the SSP to look at the key swing states in the 2004 election. After the election, I started focusing on key races up and down the ballot throughout the country.
During 2005, I was also a front-page contributing editor at Daily Kos.
What has been your favorite post, or favorite story to write about, in that time?
In March of 2005, I wrote a post called "Let's Take This Open Seat on a Trial Run" at Daily Kos. Ohio's 2nd CD is incredibly conservative, but I thought, this is the perfect opportunity for Democrats to do some political R&D. In other words, when your odds of winning are so small, you can afford to take risks, experiment, be aggressive. Fortunately, we wound up with a fearless candidate (Paul Hackett) who was willing to do just that, and we came a lot closer to winning than I ever would have imagined. I had a lot of fun covering that race, both at Kos and the SSP.
Describe your typical blogging schedule. And what is your average output?
Being a student, I tend to have a fair amount of time between classes, which is when I usually write. I also write in the evenings at home. I try to put up at least one new post a day. Sometimes, when the muse strikes, I might write half a dozen or more.
Who is your favorite political blogger? Favorite non-political blogger?
Political: Billmon is the best pure writer out there. Though I often disagree with him sharply, I am always impressed with his intellect. Non-Political: Steve of The Sneeze. Totally hilarious!
Who is your favorite mainstream media columnist?
Paul Krugman, for sure -- but I read him much less frequently now that the NYT has put him behind a subscription firewall.
What is your favorite television news program, either network or cable?
The only TV news I ever watch is NY1, a 24-hour local news channel in NYC. They put almost all other TV news to shame, despite being a local outfit. Pat Kiernan's "In the Papers" in the morning is the greatest!
What MSM-produced websites (i.e. newspapers, magazines) do you visit on a daily basis?
Mainly the NY Times &WSJ 's free content.
What non-MSM websites (i.e. blogs) do you visit on a daily basis?
Rather than mention all the big names, some of the smaller blogs I visit regularly are the Bluegrass Report, Dump Mike, Say No to Pombo and Take 19. I'm a big fan of local and especially single-district blogs. District Blogs is a great blog aggregator for the latter.
How often, or do you ever, read a newspaper in its dead-tree (i.e. print) form?
Very seldom, apart from (sadly) the freebie rag they hand out on the Metro.
How do you see the new media and old media affecting and influencing each other in the next five years?
In the traditional media, you have outlets like the New York Times and outlets like the New York Post. One is reputable, the other isn't, and everyone's figured out which is which by now. The same is true of the blogging world: You have Times-style blogs and Post-style blogs. Most bloggers try to verify what they post; some peddle in rumor. Most blogs are run by honest folks; some are run by paid shills.
My biggest concern, though, is that the traditional media will fail to distinguish between the two. I think we saw this happen in 2004 in South Dakota, where bloggers who were on campaign payrolls were wrongly treated as independent sources. When a story appears to originate in the blogosphere, traditional media reporters need to ask, "Is the source reputable? Is it a Times or a Post?" And if you can't answer in the affirmative, then pass on the story. This isn't always an easy question to answer, but one good place to start is the list of past winners of the Koufax Awards.
]]>What is your full name?
TigerHawk.
What is your age?
Roughly 44, look like a young 50.
Where did you grow up?
I spent my formative years in Iowa City, Iowa. My father was professor of history at the University of Iowa, and I am a lifelong Hawkeye fan, even though I am not an alumnus. I went to boarding school in New Jersey in the '70s, then Princeton, then the University of Michigan Law School. From there I moved to Chicago for about 8 years, and then back East about ten years ago. It is not clear that I have yet "grown up."
Where do you live now?
Princeton, NJ.
What is your occupation? Have you ever worked on a political campaign or for the mainstream media?
I am a corporate tool, in that I am a senior executive for a public company of some size, which is why I blog anonymously. I have not worked for the "mainstream media" since I wrote articles for the Res Gestae, the student newspaper of the University of Michigan Law School. And there are those who argue that the RG really isn't the MSM.
When did you start blogging and why?
I blogged in a sense before I really knew what blogs were -- when I travelled, I would sometimes write long emails on various subjects that interested me and circulate them to friends. Just about two years ago -- December 2003 -- one of my good friends who was quite tired of these emails suggested that I start a blog. She sent me the link to Blogger and the rest is history.
What has been your favorite post, or favorite story to write about, in that time?
I write about a great many things, and it would be hard to identify a favorite post among the almost 3000 to date. If I had to pick one right now, I nominate my post on "victory conditions in the wider war." I write a lot about the story of our age: the war on Islamic fascism, including the battle in that war now being fought in Iraq (the phrasing of my response surely indicates my general position on that topic).
Describe your typical blogging schedule. And what is your average output?
I blog early in the morning and in the evening, by and large. By "blogging," though, I include my on line reading, which I was doing long before I started my blog. I do try to post every day, though, and on weekends my output usually increases. Since inception, I have averaged about four posts per day.
Who is your favorite political blogger? Favorite non-political blogger?
My favorite political blogger is Richard Fernandez of The Belmont Club. I also like Glenn Reynolds, Roger L. Simon, the Power Line trio, Charles Johnson, Cassandra of Villainous Company (who has been known to post on TigerHawk) and any number of others. I'm not sure I have a favorite non-political blogger, although I do read them. That's a toughie.
Who is your favorite mainstream media columnist?
Does Christopher Hitchens count? If not, Mark Steyn.
What is your favorite television news program, either network or cable?
Does "The Beltway Boys" count? I don't watch much television news, per se.
What MSM-produced websites (i.e. newspapers, magazines) do you visit on a daily basis?
New York Times, Washington Post, Yahoo! News. Often The Note at abcnews.com and the "Best of the Web" at opinionjournal.com. Others less regularly. I read a lot of stories on foreign newspaper websites -- I probably rotate among 20 or so foreign papers, looking at three or four per day.
What non-MSM websites (i.e. blogs) do you visit on a daily basis?
Instapundit and The Belmont Club are the most reliable daily visits. I probably read 40-50 other blogs or blog aggregators roughly twice a week.
How often, or do you ever, read a newspaper in its dead-tree (i.e. print) form?
Daily, or almost daily.
How do you see the new media and old media affecting and influencing each other in the next five years?
I am not a blog triumphalist, and even though I'm a big supporter of efforts to legitimize the professional blogs, for me it is just a hobby and always will be. But I'll still give it a shot.
Let's define our terms. I am not writing about the 27 million blogs tracked by Technorati, or the possibly larger number that are not. I'm also not talking about "elite" bloggers, who are really just professional journalists or writers who have deployed the new technology. I am talking about some small number -- probably less than 10,000 -- of English-language bloggers who write for a general audience and try hard to be successful. Many write on political matters, but some write for a general audience within some specialty (law librarians, or fans of the Chicago Cubs, or securities lawyers). The key point is that they are not really writing for their friends and family so much as for some unaffiliated audience.
The most important impact of blogging, I think, is that it is the most convenient mechanism by which readers can select what they want to read about and from what perspective. Of old, the producers of the three networks and the editors of the wire services or big city papers performed that task. It was an incredibly small group of people, if you think about it. Then, the Internet made it possible for people to read material straight from the wires or any newspaper, not just the paper that landed on the driveway. Now, we can choose our editors. That's really what bloggers are, after all -- editors. Oh, some of us do some analysis, some of us do some punditry, and some of us do some actual reporting (I like to think I've done all three at one time or another). But our real function is to tell our readers what we think they should focus on. We get and retain readers by writing about or linking to things that they think are important. In so doing, we have tremendously threatened the narrow elite that used to perform this task for the public. The smart MSM editors and producers will recognize that there has been a sea-change, and they will try to harness the "long tail" editors of the blogosphere to improve their own MSM product. The dumb ones -- or perhaps simply the blind ones -- won't know what's hitting them when their competitors open up their editorial process to open source contributions from bloggers.
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