Blogs, the generic name for a myriad of different publicdiaries, have exploded. Hundreds, thousands of Bloggers populatethe Internet, and these people are tackling the stream politicalcoverage and commentary like never before. As the RepublicanNational Convention kicks off, Ed Board would like to encouragestudents to pursue alternative media. While watching both CNN andFox News might make you think you’ve covered all yourpolitical bases, there’s an entirely different trend beingoverlooked by the mainstream media.
In an article in PC Magazine, John Dvorak writes, “Youhave to be dedicated to a Web site to keep it current. Not so theBlog; it’s more addictive.”
He’s not kidding. While thousands of these sites arepredominantly online diaries devoted to people’s personallives, startlingly, thousands more are focused on coveringpolitics, both local and national.
Glenn Reynolds, a law professor at the University of Tennessee,writes and maintains Instapundit.com, a blog that receivesthousands of hits a day. Reynolds even offers his Blog in aPDA-friendly version.
Blogsofwar.com is another infamous Blog, known by thousands forits edited digital pictures. John Little, the “general”of the Blog, receives so many emails from readers that he initiatedtwo different emails accounts, one for news tips and one forgeneral comments.
Students that want a more direct link to the two presidentialcandidates should start with the two official Blogs for theirrespective campaigns.
From the official Kerry-Edwards campaign is blog.johnkerry.com.Students can get informed with biographies of the presidentialhopeful, his wife, Teresa Heinz Kerry, and running mate JohnEdwards and his wife Elizabeth. To more fully understandKerry-Edwards’ “Plan for America,” Ed Boardsuggests looking into the duo’s official stance on nationalsecurity, the economy and jobs, health care, energy independence,homeland security, education, the environment and several otherissues.
The Bush-Cheney campaign runs www.georgewbush.com/blog, a Blogfocused on “paying tribute to the courage of a nation andfreedom around the world.” Unlike Kerry, thepresident’s campaign Blog is not a separate entity. Instead,it is part of the more general www.georgebush.com and contains thesame kind of detailed platform information found on the KerryBlog.
Not officially connected to the Bush campaign isblogsforbush.com — a collection of hundreds of blogs acrossthe nation that support the president. Blogs such aspetrifiedtruth.com meld political commentary and the personal diarytake, combining comments about family vacations with conservativecommentary. Kerry supporters have not organized anything sodramatically unified, but Blogs such as kerryblog.blogspot.com canstill provide insight into the liberal mind.
Ed Board strongly encourages students to take a long look at themainstream media’s coverage of everything that’shappening and going to occur this political season. Blogs all overthe Internet will give you the author’s stripped-down”truth” about everything going on in Washington D.C.and in your own backyard. Pay attention!
