Joho the Blog
An Entry from the Archives

CyberJournalilst.net is keeping track of which bloggers were credentialed for the Democratic Convention. So far, we do seem to be a homogenous lot — I believe we're all likely to vote for Kerry, but with varying degrees of enthusiasm.

Cyberjournalists asks, if the media are not credentialed according to their beliefs, why are bloggers? But is that the case? I've heard that 35 bloggers were credentialed. Do we know of any unfriendlies (so to speak) who were turned down?

Mike Lidell, in an article in the Washington Post article, does not list viewpoint as a criterion:

It is not clear how the Democratic Party will decide among the more than 60 bloggers who have applied for credentials. Convention officials said they are considering three criteria: the size of the blogger's audience, the "professionalism" of the site and the amount of original material it includes. It is subjective and a little vague. But then again, Liddell said, no one has tried this before. "We don't have a guide to go by," he said.

Since we are unlikely to get a list of the 25 bloggers who were turned down, I don't feel I can have an opinion about the possible vetting of bloggers by viewpoint until we see a longer list of who was accepted.

Of course I'm bothered by the skew towards the A-List. How great would it be for bloggers with smaller readerships to function as hometown reporters of a sort? I understand the convention planners thinking that they can't just let anyone in who has set up a blog somewhere. But are we at the point yet? Yo, credentialing committe, how about some transparency about the criteria? How about blogging about it?

In any case, the credentialing process is further evidence that blogging is forming a continuum, filling in the gap between professional journalists and people writing letters home. Inevitably, the Big Time media pay too much attention to the side of the spectrum where bloggers are like journalists and columnists without portfolio, missing the vast bulk of the blogosphere where blogs are forming a new network of thought, conversation, identity and community.

Jeez, I could have sworn that I blogged a whole bunch more after that original posting, appending it here, including more from Jay Rosen and Dave Winer's community blog for people attending. But now it's gone. What the hell happened to it? Or am I just dreaming it?