"But more important than technological virtuosity, the blogging world is peopled with passionate social reformers, whose values arise from the most basic principles of representative democracy. This community of change-makers sees a compromised media system and finds other ways to deliver reliable information. It sees a timid and co-opted Democratic Party and pushes to empower "candidates who are not afraid to be Democrats," as Markos Moulitsas put it. Less than half a decade ago, Moulitsas founded the Daily Kos, one of today's most read progressive blogs, and has emerged as an unapologetic advocate for progressive values long suppressed by the corporate media and traditional party politics." Journalist Margaret Krome served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Cameroon.
Margaret Krome writes: I approached the Netroots Nation conference in Austin, Texas, last week thinking in generational terms
Margaret Krome: Awed in Austin at bloggers' confab
Margaret Krome — 7/22/2008 5:22 am
I approached the Netroots Nation conference in Austin, Texas, last week thinking in generational terms. I felt old at 52 as I imagined joining this conference of over 2,000 progressive bloggers and blog-watchers as one of its older and least technologically competent attendees.
Certainly, my sessions made it wonderfully clear that there is a powerful force in American political and cultural life coming from the generation 10 to 30 years younger than I. But the movement of progressive bloggers is quite diverse. Both genders. All ages. More white than not, but people of color involved in all events, and sessions specifically designed to build power among Latino and African-American bloggers. People who blog in spare moments when families and professional lives allow it. People who blog as a profession.
I was awed by the people I met.
First of all, a technologically timid soul like me is easily inspired by computer fearlessness. I was dazzled by the woman from the Huffington Post in my cab who thought nothing of suggesting that I insert "a few lines of software" into a blog to make it "more of a game for blog visitors" to help me accomplish the strategic goal I am exploring in my work. Being playful on the Internet? I was just pleased that I could understand her idea.
But more important than technological virtuosity, the blogging world is peopled with passionate social reformers, whose values arise from the most basic principles of representative democracy. This community of change-makers sees a compromised media system and finds other ways to deliver reliable information. It sees a timid and co-opted Democratic Party and pushes to empower "candidates who are not afraid to be Democrats," as Markos Moulitsas put it. Less than half a decade ago, Moulitsas founded the Daily Kos, one of today's most read progressive blogs, and has emerged as an unapologetic advocate for progressive values long suppressed by the corporate media and traditional party politics.
Of course, some bloggers are more responsible than others. Blog rants do happen. Inaccuracies occur, just as they do in traditional media. But the system of blog rankings rewards individuals whose research and information is perceived by blog readers as being reliable. It also rewards writers with a sense of humor. A colleague of mine recently blogged on a federal policy issue and got a few score readers committing to make the phone calls to federal agency leaders that she sought. Dissatisfied with this response, she rewrote it as a blog from her kitten, complete with cute kitty pictures; the new version drew over 2,000 responses.
The social change nature of the conference was unmistakable, with workshops ranging from veterans' concerns to immigration, the war in Iraq to health care reform, the religious right to the Bush government's use of torture. But the progressive blogosphere is no longer or never was dominated by reformers out of touch with political realities. Discussions were rich with nuance and complexity, with tolerance for compromise to achieve ends that matter. I see appreciation for expertise outside the purview of many bloggers, who seek to understand the system as it exists so that they can bring the power of social networking to change it.
An irritant in my daily Internet use is the dancing figures designed by marketers to advertise by distraction. Yet I wonder if advertising may not prove crucial to the success of bloggers' democratic function. One of the most encouraging conversations I had at Netroots Nation was with a young professional blogger whose income comes from modest donations made on his site and a few advertisers. In an age of Rupert Murdoch and compromised media independence, how can democracy afford not to have bloggers like him at their keyboards? How could he afford to invest the time he does in information gathering and muckraking without some financial backing, including from advertising?
I hope to return to Netroots Nation another year, not as a policy panelist as I did this year, but as one more person committed to using this powerful new democratic tool. I may have to take a few computer courses to get me there, but the blogosphere no longer seems like the exclusive domain of younger, technologically braver people. Well, younger, anyway ...
Margaret Krome of Madison writes a semimonthly column for The Capital Times.
