« Happy Birthday To Me -- And WV | Main | Survey On State Political Blogs »

OffTheBus And Onto The Campaign Trail

Two online specialists who worked for the 2004 Democratic presidential campaign of Sen. John Kerry have decided to try their hand at journalism in the 2008 race.

Zack Exley and Amanda Michel have joined the OffTheBus new media team being recruited by blogger Arianna Huffington and journalism professor Jay Rosen. Michel will be the project director, and Exley will be a senior adviser and traveling correspondent.

As described by Huffington and Rosen back in March, OffTheBus aims to get citizens across the country involved in covering the leading presidential candidates over the next two years. The writers they recruit will have blogs dedicated to each of the campaigns.

"Of all the people we talked to and interviewed for this project, Zack and Amanda were the ones who really understood what we are trying to accomplish," Huffington wrote in a new post about the project. "They are prime examples of a new breed of young people who get politics, get the Internet, get journalism -- and see how citizen journalism can completely change the dynamics of the game."

Rosen said the two already have had an impact by convincing him and Huffington to make the blogging platform for OffTheBus more open than originally planned. The plans as of now, according to Rosen, include:

-- An open blogging platform with a filter-to-the-front-page system for culling the best stuff;
-- A corps of bloggers, some of whom may wish to track particular candidates or develop beats;
-- A larger pool of occasional collaborators for "distributed reporting";
-- A network of volunteer experts in areas like election law;
-- Disclosure forms and routines that describe contributors' political views;
-- And professional editors and writers to mentor and consult with the bloggers.

"I’m really looking forward to this," Exley wrote. "In 2000, I watched the presidential race as a … well … Internet crank ... publishing a parody site and making various other kinds of trouble. In 2004, oddly enough, I got to experience the race from the inside. This time, I’ll be observing as a journalist."

At least one blogger and former journalist, Rob Bluey of the Heritage Foundation's Center for Media and Public Policy (where I serve on the advisory board), is skeptical about "Political Operatives Acting As Journalists":

It’s an admirable goal, but Huffington comes at it with a partisan agenda. What’s confusing is the choice of liberal political operatives Amanda Michel and Zack Exley to lead it. ... I’m sure they’re both extremely talented, but I think it’s a mistake to put political organizers ... in charge of what strives to be an alternative form of journalism.

Huffington could prove me wrong, but I fear this project could devolve into something far different from what’s being advertised.

Posted by Danny | 11:03 AM

Comments

Post a Comment