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Just Say No To Lapblogging

Senate Republicans held their latest chat session with a few friendly bloggers yesterday, but at least one of them went away both unimpressed and irritated.

The reason: The senators who participated apparently thought they were reaching out to a bunch of lapblogs rather than smart, free-thinking members of Estate 4.5 who might actually want to ask an unscripted question and get an unscripted answer.

Robert Bluey of The Right Angle at Human Events Online said the "quasi-presser for bloggers -- staged by the Senate Republican Conference -- was by far the most bizarre" and ultimately concluded that most Senate Republicans "really have no idea about blogging." That's why so few of them do it themselves and why they aren't too keen on interacting with bloggers, either, he said.

Bluey offered three tips for any Capitol Hill staffers who want to benefit from the power of blogs and who are willing to listen: 1) Never use a script; 2) staged questions are bad; and 3) bloggers like interaction.

"Dumping a bunch of talking points on me only makes me angry," he wrote. Although Bluey obviously is partial to the Republican mindset, he added, "I'm not a flack for the GOP."

Tim Chapman of Capitol Report at Townhall.com also took note of the scripted event, saying that he told Sen. Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania that he should actually let bloggers ask some questions next time.

But in pointing to the coverage of other bloggers later, Bluey acknowledged that he was "the lone attack dog" at the event.

That's not to say the other participants, including the Open Market blog of the Competitive Enterprise Institute and the ShopFloor blog of the National Association of Manufacturers, were lapblogs. They just covered the conference like any other news event, reporting what the senators had to say.

But the senators clearly hoped they were preaching to the choir, and Bluey's decision to sing a different tune, off the key of GOP, made his post the most interesting one to read.

Posted by | 06:47 AM

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Comments

Hmmh, I don't know. I actually kinda wish we'd go back to the day when we didn't do press conferences.

I don't want policy made by some guy surprised by a question, who blurts out an answer. I think I might prefer speeches, press releases, and questions sent in the mail and answered at length, and with thought behind them.

Eric R. Ashley | 03.17.06 11:58 AM

Eric,

I don't.

People who don't know their subject matter are very easily caught off guard. I want to know who these people are, and what position of power they hold. People who know their subject cold can face a near infinite amount of questioning, and handle it with aplomb. I want these people advanced into positions of power.

In WW2, I am sure Chamberlain had all the time in the world to put thought into "peace in our time", and where did it get us?

Buster | 03.19.06 08:15 AM

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