5 Roles of Liberal Bloggers
July 20th, 2006 | by christine |  |
5 Roles of Liberal Bloggers |
| 1. Research, present, and analyze the facts. The first role is actually three rolled into one. A progressive investigative blogger faces many challenges in her efforts to get to the truth. Getting the results of a FOIA request can be costly, and research can take a lot of time out of the day. Interviews can be hard to come by, as bloggers are often not given the same courtesies as reporters. Nevertheless, bloggers perform a necessary function; as mass media becomes increasingly beholden to special interests, it is left to bloggers to report the news properly. | |
| The role of the liberal blogger is not just to present facts, but to analyze them as well. Is there more to this incident? Are there any unusual patterns here? What are the potential consequences of this event? Readers are interested in more than just numbers and names and dates; they want to know what it all means. |  |
| 2. To rally the base, or to persuade the moderates?
You are too polarizing!
You sugarcoat everything! |
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Comments like this are tossed around the blogosphere, usually with good intentions. But just as you wouldn’t criticize a fireman for not fighting crime, you shouldn’t criticize a blogger for not doing a job that isn’t his.
I have written several articles that might be considered polarizing, but I don’t care. My job is not to persuade moderates to my way of thinking; my job is to nourish like minded people … … to refresh my readers’ pride in our shared ideology. Every faith needs renewal, and when I’m writing Dem vs GOP, I am usually preaching to the faithful. A man once said that his weekly church sermons are like his family’s Sunday dinners. After all this time, he cannot remember any of the meals that they have had together, but he knows that the meals nourished and sustained him. That’s what I want my blog to do. Know who you are, and be that. That’s one of your roles as a blogger. |
| 3. Whack-a-mole. Not to be confused with trolling, whack-a-mole consists of neutralizing attacks on our candidates and ideology. The purpose of this is not to persuade the mole that he is wrong (easier to teach math to a worm), but to protect future readers from getting only one side of the argument. For example: |  |
Right winger: You only hear about the bad things in Iraq because of the liberal media! The liberal media never reports any of the good things.
You: There is no liberal media, that’s a myth. Even William Kristol said that the concept of a liberal media was just an excuse for conservative failures. Also, the media has been told not to report certain things in Iraq, like the construction of schools, because of the concern that those locations would become targets for attack.
While whacking does not belong exclusively to the bloggers, we are the perfect netizens to perform this function. We are constantly searching blogs, forums, etc. for information and ideas, so we have many opportunities to whack. Furthermore we are usually well versed in our niche, so we’ve got a better whacking hammer than most.
It’s worth the time to fight these pockets of ignorance whever we find them.
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4. Support each other. One of the reasons that the liberal blogosphere is so strong is that we are all connected; we feed each other ideas and traffic, and create enough original content to avoid becoming a “me too” network. We need to continue this and expand the existing sphere. There will be a lot of blogs started during campaign season … seek them out on technorati, blogger, blogrolls, or services like leftyblogs. When you find a new blogger with potential, be generous with links, comments, and praise. Welcome the new guy with open arms.
Liberal blogs dominate the sphere; we need to keep it that way. |
| 5. Support candidates and issues. Let’s face it; the left-wing blogosphere was built on the desktops of people who are pissed off about losing elections. These are people who articulate their position, contribute their time or money, and vote regularly. This group has done some amazing things … when asked. If the purpose of your blog is to change the world, you have to do more than share your opinion. Give your readers something to do. Promote a cause on your sidebar. Ask your visitors to make a phone call or spend some money. You never know who might be reading. Your webspace is your weapon against your opposition. Wield it well. |
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One Response to “5 Roles of Liberal Bloggers”
By Zack Pohl on Jul 21, 2006 | Reply
Great post, Christine!
Sometimes it feels like we’re shouting into the void, but you’re right to point out the analogy of Sunday meals. These past six years have been quite depressing for progressives in many ways, and blogs seem to be one of the few things that are sustaining this movement.
Keep up the good work!