Now, I’m a little nervous because even though I’m very passionate about blogging, I still consider myself a novice. In a way, I guess I was trying to prove my passion and smarts to myself in this paper. It’s not as in depth as I’m sure other people could have made it, but I thought I did a pretty good job.

Anyway, I hope you guys like it.

The Future of the Political Blogosphere

On August 19, 2007, The Los Angeles Times ran a column by Michael Skube, a journalism professor at Elon University, called “Blogs: All the noise that fits.” The basic argument of the column is that bloggers bring a type of information overload that adds debate to the information newspapers already accurately report. Political bloggers do not put the same careful consideration into their posts that reporters put in their stories, Skube wrote.

In short, Skube is wrong. What he fails to consider is that because blogs are a different medium, they spread information in a different way. The purpose and desire to spread information quickly and accurately, however, is still the same. This is why there is so much potential for blogs to join newspaper and television as part of mainstream media.

Two days after Skube’s column ran, Jay Rosen wrote a rebuttle on his blog PressThink that was later printed in The Los Angeles Times. Rosen, a journalism professor at New York University, lists 16 cases where blogs were able to spread information in ways newspapers could not or actually broke news before any newspaper.

Here are three political examples:

• February, 2006: Nick Anthis, a graduate student and science blogger, finds out that 24-year-old George Deutsch, who was accused of attempting to silence NASA climate scientists, lied on his résumé about having a college degree. Deutsch resigns.

• December 2006 – April 2007: Talking Points Memo uncovers the United States Attorney firings after months of research and help from blog readers. According to the L.A. Times, Josh Marshall and others gathered evidence “from around the country on who the axed prosecutors were, and why politics might be behind the firings.”

• March 2006: The blog Daily Kos and other Web sites show that a picture used by Howard Kaloogian, a California Republican Congressional candidate, to show peace in Iraq was fake. It was actually a scene shot in Istanbul, Turkey. Kaloogian loses his primary race.

Those are just a few of many examples of how blogs helped the spread of information. As the industry of print journalism expands to the Internet, it is important to realize the different roles that newspapers and Web sites play in spreading news.

Blogging provides a much faster outlet for the news than newspapers, which typically only run a story once a day the day after an event happens. Yet some argue that this might be irrelevant when it comes to political blogging, which they say is just too niche of a subject to warrant a separate blog on a newspaper’s Web site.

On April 2, an article revealed the results of a joint study between Ball State University and the University of Nevada, Reno:

“A study of blogs and audience engagement during the week before the fall 2006 elections found that most newspaper staff-produced blogs contained a small number of postings, failed to create much interaction between the blogger and the audience and attracted few audience comments.”

The statistics were reported later in the article:

• “While some blogs contained frequent posts as high as 57 during the five-day study, the average was 8.2, and almost 25 percent had no posts.

• The average number of comments for the five-day period was 33.5, or an average of 6.7 per day, which was skewed by a few bloggers receiving as many as 100 posts daily.

• About 58 percent of people responding to blogs contributed more than one comment.

• Eighty percent of bloggers posted no responses to readers’ comments.”

Erica Smith, a journalist and Web designer for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, wrote a short response on her blog, Graphic Designr, pointing out a problem in the fact that it took two years to complete the study. To back up her claim, she shows the statistics of her newspaper’s current politics blogs from March 27 to April 2.

The Post-Dispatch’s two political blogs are DC Download, which covers national politics, and Political Fix, which covers local and state politics. During the week, DC Download had 13 posts, 56 comments and zero responses from bloggers. There was an average of eight comments per day and 1.9 posts per day. Political Fix featured 30 posts, 222 comments and zero responses from the bloggers. On average, there were 31.7 comments and four posts per day.

While Smith admits that the bloggers did not post as often as in the study, she shows there were plenty of comments. She also recognizes that bloggers should respond to the readers to help create dialogue among them. Smith also mentions that while the blogger should post frequently, it should be a matter of quality over quantity.

Another argument debunking the myth of the unimportance of political blogs comes from a column in The Chronicle Review by David D. Perlmutter. Perlmutter is a senior fellow at Louisiana State University’s Reilly Center for Media and Public Affairs and a professor on its Baton Rouge campus. He also edits a political-analysis blog and is writing a book on political blogs for Oxford University Press.

In his column, Perlmutter stresses that it is difficult to figure out what role political blogs will play in the future of campaigns and elections because it is too soon. He writes, “political blogs are in a state of flux,” meaning that the direction they will take in affecting — or not affecting — elections is still to be determined.

Although Perlmutter addresses several interesting questions aimed at categorizing blogs, one issue he brings up is whether the political blogosphere will act as a new Iowa caucus. Because of the immediacy of blogging, it is easy to see the response candidates elicit from bloggers. Bloggers pick the candidates they support and oppose from very early on — way before state primaries even begin. The million-dollar question, however, is whether bloggers reflect the American public or a network of niche political junkies.

It is possible that blogs could fit into several categories such as fundraising machines, campaign literature, political operatives and much more. In the end, Perlmutter writes that it is an exciting time for students of politics and a trying time for professionals, whose “tied-and-true” strategies are being challenged by new technology. He reminds us that blogs are facing the same questions that television news faced in 1952. He writes, “One thing is certain: Blogging is now part of political campaigns, elections, and public-affairs debates; although the future is unknown, it will not be unblogged.”

Although political blogs are the newest mystery to hit the political scene since television, that doesn’t mean they should be dismissed as a potential outlet for legitimate news. There is great potential for newspapers to reach their demographic directly through conversations in blogs.

I recognize that there are bad bloggers in the blogosphere who take the responsibility that comes with writing lightly, but there have also been bad reporters. Adam L. Penenberg wrote an article for Forbes called “Lies, damn lies and fiction,” in which he recounted the reporting horrors of Stephen Glass, who was fired from The New Republic for completely fabricating stories.

“It is ironic that online journalists have received bad press from the print media for shoddy reporting,” Penenberg wrote. “But the truth is, bad journalism can be found anywhere. It is not the medium; it is the writer.”

Usually I grumble and procrastinate and just angrily crank them out in a few hours the night before. This semester, I’m actually planning it out so I can write well thought out papers with some time to spare. Then again, maybe it’s because I’m actually excited about one of them

For my political journalism class I strayed from the five prompts he gave us to come up with something pertinent to my goal to be a political blogger: What is the future of political blogs?

It sounds like a broad topic, but I’m really curious about it. Where do people think political blogs are going?

I’m sure there are a lot of people out there who think it’s a dumb topic because they are very much involved in the blogosphere. I don’t think so. I think it’s very niche knowledge. So I want to explore the topic a little and write a few pages on it. When I’m done, I think I’ll post it up here.

In the mean time, if anyone has any relevant information or opinions on the topic, feel free to let me know.

Because they announced it was off the record, I will exclude the names of the two speakers and any identifying information about their backgrounds. Instead, I really just want to focus on the information they gave us that I found important in starting a career in Washington, DC. The first speaker had only been working in the White House for about two weeks. He focussed his talk on being a hard worker.

Getting involved in Washington politics young is key. Any internship is a viable way to breaking into the incestuous nature of DC. And as an intern, he said the general advice to follow is to get to work early and learn to photocopy well.

The advice was half told in jest, but he said hard, efficient work is essentially the name of the game. He said he wasn’t the smartest guy, but knows he got to his job in the White House because people knew he did his job accurately and did it well.

During the Q&A I asked about the competition for the White House internships, and he said 1,400 students apply for 200 positions throughout different departments. At first I was shocked, but then I did a little math and realized that’s only about seven people competing for each slot.

Not bad, not bad at all… I think I’m going to apply for a position in one of the four press departments for January 2009 after I graduate.

The second speaker was actually someone who worked IN one of the press departments, and boy, did he make it sound like fun.

He said the atmosphere in the White House takes on that of the president’s personality and habits, so while that means everyone starts work at like 6 a.m., the offices are pretty laid back and lighthearted.

From what I gathered, the press offices mainly have to consume as much news about the presidency as possible and prepare responses to the press corps’ questions (before they ask them). They also send out loads of press releases, help plan events and make arrangements with reporters to stalk the president everywhere he goes.

While it sounded like loads of fun, he added that the responsibility he feels is pretty crazy. There is pressure to not only get information out quickly, but accurately. Whatever comes out of your mouth is representative of the leader of our nation. Getting it wrong could shift public opinion, affect the vote of Congress, or piss off another world leader. That’s a lot to handle.

Still, I was totally in love with what I heard. I think an internship in the one of the press offices would be an amazing place to start my career in Washington. Not only would I gain some experience, but possibly bring me closer to my dream of being a White House correspondent through contact with the media.

Regardless of whether I get the internship or not, I’m going to apply. As my dad always says, “Every shot not taken is a goal not scored.”

Some pictures from today:

Before I toured the Newseum, I went to the live broadcasting of National Public Radio’s show “Talk of the Nation.” This is one of my favorite NPR shows, so it was really cool to sit in the front row before the show and pick out Neal Conan based solely on his voice.

Barry Goldwater Jr. and John W. Dean (whom we all know was part of former President Richard Nixon’s White House Counsel) were the first guests on the show to talk about a new book they wrote called “Pure Goldwater.” The book is essentially a biography of former Sen. Barry Goldwater, who is recognized as the father of the modern Conservative movement.

From what I gathered from Goldwater and Dean, the book reflects the private thoughts of Barry Goldwater throughout his political career. It was really interesting to me to hear how much influence one man can have on people, not even as president or as a presidential candidate, but as a Congressman.

After the show was over, my friend Gabrielle and I toured some areas of the Newseum. We started with The Journalists Memorial, which commemorates all of the journalists who have risked their lives in the pursuit of news. It really touched me how many people laid down their lives to spread truth and possibly bring about change.

I’ve never considered myself an activist, but standing in that exhibit and reading about how noble my profession is, I feel like I reached a much deeper appreciation for my chosen profession. To me, there are not many other professions I consider to be more noble than journalism.

That reminded me of a quote I read in the 9/11 exhibit about there only being three people who ever run toward disaster: policemen, firemen and reporters. It’s true. Policemen and firemen must save lives, but journalists bear the burden of informing everyone else on what’s happening.

For me, the 9/11 exhibit really hit home. I come from a family of New Yorkers, so there is a very strong connection to that city for me. Reading about the coverage and watching films on the experience from a journalist’s perspective simply moved me to tears. The attack changed the lives of everyone, and it was thanks to those journalists who risked everything that we have the documentation to remind us of that day.

We also spent some time in the exhibit of Pulitzer Prize-winning photographs. All of the photos were so moving, but in very different ways. I feel like a lot of them are the kind of images that will be forever burned into my brain. Considering the weight of some of the subjects, I’m not sure how I feel about it. But I guess it’s necessary to remember tragedy and hardship to appreciate the life you live.

To end on a lighter note, I bought a Newseum whiskey glass (to drink milk out of, naturally and a black T-shirt that reads “Not tonight, dear… I’m on deadline.”

All in all, an awesome day chock full of news fun.

Here are some pictures:

Somehow he makes every class interesting without any gimmicks. Like a good journalist, he just gives us the facts. And I think I’m officially his No. 1 fan.

Because I admire him so much, I decided to visit him a little more than a week ago for consultation on how I can attain my dream of becoming a White House correspondent.Obviously there is no clear cut path this kind of dream. And not having any specifically politically geared journalism professors at UF, I figured I would take advantage of my time here with my professor Richard Benedetto.

So I made the journey to his office at American University’s School of Public Affairs. I went in with no idea how to go about my job strategy, and when I left I not only learned a ton, I was really surprised by some of the information Prof. Benedetto gave me.

The most important concept he stressed to me was gaining expertise in an area of government. A good way to do this is to work for a government agency, lobbying firms, interest groups… anything that could help me master some aspect of government pertinent to the executive branch (such as environmental policy, national defense, etc.).

A good idea might be to get a job with the Pentagon, State Department, United Nations or Homeland Security — basically anything that could give me experience with topics that are relevant to the presidency.

I found it very surprising. I always assumed that if you were to get a job in media, you should just get a job at a paper to build your credibility. I mean, it makes sense to develop expertise, but I thought you did that through having a specific beat or something. This was a whole new idea for me.

Benedetto also mentioned being a press secretary for a congressional office as an option. It’s a good way to meet reporters and learn about opportunities in the political journalism industry. Also, there’s a chance you could get to do some speech writing, which is a good way to get your writing recognized.

Another way to get your writing recognized by people in Washington is to cover Virginia or Maryland’s local or state politics because a lot of Washington professionals live there — these are stories they’re going to read. If they start recognizing your byline, then there’s a chance you can climb the political reporting ranks.

Of course, jobs and internships with newspapers in Washington is always good, too. Benedetto said if I wanted to write for USA Today, it might be a good idea to try for an internship there. Even though I wouldn’t be doing much writing, it would be a great way to get my foot in the door. I could work my way up from there.

Another interesting topic he brought up was the lack of jobs in journalism. However, unlike what I’m hearing from my professors back at UF, Benedetto said news organizations prefer to hire recent college graduates because they don’t require the organizations to pay them very much, which seems logical. I don’t know why I ever looked at it that way.

Specifically, TV stations have been known to hire college grads as bloggers to go on campaign trails with the presidential candidates. It’s easy because the grads don’t ask for much money, have the Internet skills required, and don’t have commitments to hold them back from picking up and moving along with Obama, Clinton or McCain.

All in all, I found this very informative. I’m glad that he mentioned working for the government as a viable option because it really broadens my job options. This is important considering I’ve just found out I’ll be graduating this December rather than May 2009.

I’m excited because it means I’ll be able to come back to DC even sooner than what I thought. Living here this semester has really taught me that there really isn’t any other place I could live. My heart belongs to this city. Thus, so do I.

I know you’ve all been dying to hear about my escapades and lessons from DC, but I’ve had a pile of work and personal issues to work out these past few weeks.

I had a birthday, few midterms, paper, visiting friend and breakup.

All in all, it was a stressful time. But now I’m back in action and ready to update you on everything I’ve learned these past few weeks over the next few days. And after that, I’m going to be way more responsible about regaling you with tales of political journalism and whatnot.

For now, I’m going to go back to having some fun on my spring break.

Happy Easter!

Little did I know this was going to be the BEST DAY EVER.

After class, I checked my e-mail on my iPhone to realize that TFAS had been given 16 tickets to the Spice Girls concert tomorrow night. The first 16 people to respond and sign up for a volunteer project to clean up a canal would get the tickets.

I’ve never been so happy to have an iPhone in my life. I was on that e-mail like a fat kid on cake.

Minutes later I received a response saying I made it onto the ticket list. I can barely believe I’m actually going to see the SPICE GIRLS! The last time I saw them in concert was 10 years ago… and I remember everything about it very distinctly. It was my first concert! How could I not?! They defined my middle school years!

After this, my friend Khaled and I got some sushi, which is one of my favorite foods… And it was delicious!

THEN a group of about 15 of us went to the Meridian International Center to listen to a lecture given by Associate Justice of the Supreme Court Anthony Kennedy.

Kennedy spoke about the radicalness of the Constitution at the time it was written by the framers and some other facts.

He pointed out three facts that I found very interesting:

1. It’s hard for countries today to write a constitution because they get too specific. They promise health care and housing and just basically overpromise the heck out of their people. Kennedy said, “The Founding Fathers did not make a promise they weren’t willing to keep.”
2. The pursuit of happiness was a very radical idea. What the real, true meaning of it was that every person had the right to feed their self-esteem by making civil contributions.
3. There are three aspects that are requirements for law. The law must be superior to the government and people, and therefore bind the two; it must be just; and it must be enforceable.

Kennedy also mentioned an interesting point that Americans see law very differently from people of other nations. Americans, he said see the law as empowering, promising — as giving people a dream for a better life.

I know George Washington said government is not eloquence or poetry, but that’s a pretty beautiful concept.

All in all, it was a wonderful afternoon. Now I’m home and listening to the Spice Girls in preparation for the concert. I’m getting so pumped up for this! I’m also relieved that I still know ALL of the words to ALL of their songs.

BEST. DAY. EVER.

Obama is a political juggernaut. But has anyone figured out why? From what I’ve heard, critics think it’s a good set of oratory skills and charisma, but Obama supporters describe it as some kind of magically empowering feeling.

A feeling? What do you mean?

No answer. It seems like no one can really describe the Obama phenomenon sweeping the nation. At least, not until Lawrence Lessig made this video about why he is “4Barack.”

It’s 20 minutes long, but I recommend watching it anyway, especially if you have any questions about Obama’s magic touch.

Just so you know the video is legit, Lawrence Lessig is a law professor at Stanford Law School and has a very long and impressive list of credentials. Check them out here. Then watch the video. Then comment on this post. What do you think about all these Democratic shenanigans?

All I really want to say about it is that it sucks. It coats everything, making it extremely hard to walk in professional shoes and almost impossible to climb your front stoop.

I guess I could consider this practice because me and my posse are going ice skating this weekend.

I know what you’re thinking, and yes, it’s probably a bad idea for clumsy me to attempt, but life needs to be spiced up every so often.

For those of you who don’t know, the first time I went ice skating (when I was 9 years old), I broke my left wrist. The second (when I was about 11 or 12), nothing happened because I refused to let go of the rink.

The third time, which was about a year and half ago, I bruised my tail bone and had to sit on a pillow for about a month. Thankfully that happened right before winter break, so I just sat that way in the comfort of my home.

My goal for this experience is to NOT seriously injure myself. I think I’m going to stick to the successful never-let-go-of-the-rink strategy.

We basically learned that a lot of polls can be easily misinterpreted, taken out of context, used to make a desired point or not reported on at all because it doesn’t seem to be a story at all.

Now for the first item, I can see how that can happen. I’m definitely not a math person and I would say that not having to take any more math classes is definitely a plus when it comes to my major… BUT that’s why you can’t be afraid of asking people for help.

I’ve been learning that the best technique to use as a journalist is to go into every situation dumb. Ask a lot of questions — even if you already know the answer. Well, shouldn’t math and data be treated the same way? I think so.

Taking data out of context and only using it to make a point seem to be in the same ballpark of bad journalism to me. I can’t see how those people can sleep at night. If you can’t come up with a good idea, don’t fake the news! That’s just lazy. Use your noggin, you can find something interesting in data if you look hard enough.

For example, Prof. Benedetto handed out a packet of different Gallup polls that included some statistics on public opinion on the war in Iraq.

This is obviously something that has been blown out of proportions by sketchy reporting. Some news organizations would have us believing that everyone and their mothers are toting picket signs outside the White House, but it’s not true at all!

This data shows that the public is pretty much split on whether Iraq was a mistake and have been split since 2005.

Another example: For the week of Jan. 30 - Feb. 2, 2008, about 57 percent of the population thought invading Iraq was a mistake and 41 thought it wasn’t. Compare this to the 54 percent who thought it was a mistake and the 45 who didn’t think so around Oct. 28-30, 2005. Not much of a difference there.

Now, not reporting on data because it doesn’t seem like a story is absolute B.S. That’s another problem I have with some reporting in today’s news… There is an overemphasis on the negative. It’s not a story if the city council is doing its job, but only when the members are laundering money and doing cocaine. What about all of the good our government does?

I’m not saying we should go soft — we should always scrutinize the jobs done by public officials, but at the same time, we need to give credit where credit is due.

Isn’t that what everyone’s looking for? Just a little credit for a job well done? What motivation would politicians have if their constituents never heard of what they accomplished from the media?

Final example on giving people fair credit: Would journalists still have motivation if there were no bylines?