Democratic National Convention state blog selection dustup

I thought the selection process was all done by a detached committee

It never occurred to me that they might talk to the State Dem Party members/leaders before they made a selection.

I actually question the wisdom of that.

As I see it, some of the best Progressive bloggers are the ones who also take their Progressive leaders to task.  Sometimes that is quite necessary, but politicians are frequently notorious for not taking criticism well.

The days when the blogs were finalized, I was writing several pieces which were also posted to other blogs criticizing our Superdelegates for not declaring and one for openly enjoying the attention.  I'm glad that was not held against me.

Thanks for posting this, Pam!

Celtic Diva

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by: CelticDiva @ Sat May 17, 2008 at 09:37:21 AM CDT

I think you meant to say

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Claim to fame: Posted first PHB diary to be demoted

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by: cindik @ Sat May 17, 2008 at 09:41:31 AM CDT

I think you meant to say

I think you meant to say

Not that I have a problem with the two folks slated, because they are extremely well-versed in state issues, certainly more so than I.  

rather than

Not that I don't have a problem with the two folks slated, because they are extremely well-versed in state issues, certainly more so than I.  

The above makes it sound like you do have a problem with them.

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Claim to fame: Posted first PHB diary to be demoted

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by: cindik @ Sat May 17, 2008 at 09:43:03 AM CDT

thanks

5AM writing.

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by: Pam Spaulding @ Sat May 17, 2008 at 10:49:34 AM CDT

[ Parent ]

Interesting situation ...

You made a great observation with your comment:

many of the state blogs are community blogs. It's hard to tell, unless people self-identify, who is a minority.

If the Democrats want to get a diverse pool of bloggers, a good next would be to ask those attending to self-identify [respecting the decisions of those who decline to], and then actively seeking out additional blogs to fill the gaps.

This would also be a lot more effective at getting coverage and two-way communication with a lot of groups who see themselves as having been marginalized by the party in the past.

Has anybody looked at gender ratios?  It wouldn't surprise me if we see the same dynamics.  A. J. Rossmiller's "The Myth o the Meritocracy, blogosphere edition" discusses this.

jon

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by: jonpincus @ Sat May 17, 2008 at 09:54:01 AM CDT

Saw this list

yesterday on Turn Maine Blue. They didn't discuss how the choosing preocess occurred or any controversy involved, so I appreciate this write-up. Food for thought.

Click HERE and sign up: Campaign For Military Partners

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by: Louise @ Sat May 17, 2008 at 09:55:47 AM CDT

Frankly My Dear ...

I don't give a damn about the state blogs ... just as long as our dearly beloved Pam gets her own lovely foot in the door of the Denver convention center!!

The fight for full LGBT Equality is NOT over.  Be strong and be ready to really fight!  And read my blog in your spare time! http://ravenhurst-ravenhurst.b...

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by: Dagon @ Sat May 17, 2008 at 09:59:14 AM CDT

....and I thought.

All we had to wait for was the Supreme Court Decision.  ....  Now its 'end of the month' here.  Maybe she will get the good, deserving news early.

It's the Hammer of JUSTICE,
It's the Bell of FREEDOM,
It's the Song about LOVE between,
my Brothers and my Sisters
...All over this Land.

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by: Orion45 @ Sat May 17, 2008 at 15:41:02 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

...can't you be 'hired/attached'.

On to Blue NC say?  Did they already specifiy who would be credentialed?

Well I think you ought to contact  Ben Jealous   ...   don't know him?  

As per CNN he was just chosen (apparently specifically by Julian Bond) to lead the NAACP.

He is 35. the the last paragraphs of the article are TELLING! 

He told AP that many in his generation have a false sense of progress in racial equality.

"Those of us who are 45 and younger were told, 'The struggle has been won. Go out and flourish. Don't worry about the movement,"' he told AP.

LINK:

www.cnn.com/2008/US/05/17/naacp.president/

Keep up the heat you are absolutely fully deserving.

It's the Hammer of JUSTICE,
It's the Bell of FREEDOM,
It's the Song about LOVE between,
my Brothers and my Sisters
...All over this Land.

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by: Orion45 @ Sat May 17, 2008 at 10:42:21 AM CDT

I know intuitively and deductively the skin color of the bloggers.

After I was banned from (96% white) DailyKos, and then banned from (98% white) MyDD for criticizing DailyKos, I went to the state blogs on the DailyKos bloglist and posted my grievances there.  At one of those state blogs after another, I was confronted by the same Markos minions who had hounded me off of DailyKos.  They said, effectively, that once having been banned from DailyKos, I should presumptively be banned everywhere else in the whitosphere, and that's basically what happened.

That shows a level of organization and integration.  So, when I heard that there would be "state blogs" on the floor in Denver, I immediately understood that these "state blogs" would be the same ones that are listed on the bloglist over at DailyKos under the title "state blogs".  If you doubt this (and I haven't confirmed all of them) then just compare the names of the blogs selected to the DailyKos state blogs bloglist.  At least some of them are the same.

Now, I've been warning Black bloggers for some time that a virtually all-white "progressive" Democratic Party whitosphere, hostile to Blacks, would result in a feeder system for other kinds of Democratic Party roles that will also be hostile to Blacks and other minorities.

I know intuitively that the the job of selecting the blogs participating has been farmed out to white bloggers and Internet people - the same ones who have made it virtually impossible for us to participate at their own white blogs and who have steadfastly refused to link to the blogs of the afrosphere.

One need only look at the blogs on DailyKos' bloglist to see what blogs would end up in Denver if DailyKos or its allies made the cut.

I believe that 20% of the bloggers in Denver should be Black because 20% of the voters who are needed for a win in November are Black.  It's not a matter of selecting blogs based on some abstract notion of "quality."  It's a matter of selecting blogs who have access to the constituencies that are needed for electoral victory.  50 white blogs not only do NOT have access to the Black community, but the fact that they are virtually all-white will be taken as a slap in the face by Blacks, which will tend to DEPRESS voter turn-out, to the extent that it has any effect at all.

That's why I've already complained about this to the people making these decisions, but without taking it to the pages on the national media yet.  The DNC deserves an opportunity to demonstrate that it is not intentionally excluding Black bloggers before it is publicly denounced for having done so.

ALL BLACK BLOGGERS who want to be in Denver should be invited until the number reaches 20% of the bloggers there overall.  Otherwise, they can hardly say it's our fault if Black voters don't turn out in November in the numbers that they would have liked.

They can hardly blame us if, instead of a lovefest, the Black coverage of Denver is about the Jim Crow "Whites Only" bloggers policy of the DNC.

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by: francislholland @ Sat May 17, 2008 at 11:07:21 AM CDT

...I would complain to OBAMA's campaiign.

After all they are the ones to be most affected ... their promos bragged about having 60,000+ new blogs online just to support him... ? How many black.

 

It's the Hammer of JUSTICE,
It's the Bell of FREEDOM,
It's the Song about LOVE between,
my Brothers and my Sisters
...All over this Land.

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by: Orion45 @ Sat May 17, 2008 at 11:20:27 AM CDT

[ Parent ]

not arguing there's a problem

And one that has historically dogged the progressive blogosphere, though in this case, as you have said, it's the DNC that has to clarify what metrics it considers useful. After all there has been a good deal of talk in the LGBT community about representation of LGBTs in the delegate population. The DNC has a lot of identity politics to deal with -- not an excuse mind you, but they seem to handle the necessary nature of such things poorly.

If you doubt this (and I haven't confirmed all of them) then just compare the names of the blogs selected to the DailyKos state blogs bloglist.  At least some of them are the same.

I don't doubt that either. I'm sure the DNC took a look at that list as a cross reference. I also believe that ones that may not have been selected, such as obvious choices omitted like Blue Jersey, reflect some political maneuvers going on.

Re: the progressive blogosphere's lack of engagement with black bloggers, there's history there, but in the case of BlueNC, the only one I can speak for, I've not ever been shut out of participation -- in fact even when I've lobbed some bombs they aren't used to over there -- the debates have not been completely shut down.

It's always a struggle to break down what exactly is going on (aside from a lack of interest because of white privilege) in what you call "the whitosphere," but I've had to deal with lack of inclusion from time to time on from in  the "Afrospear" - no fault here, just saying it happens on both sides of the fence. I don't have answers to the problem. Is the goal to break through the insular progressive blogosphere (assuming there are spaces where one is outright rejected, others represent benign neglect) or have separate spaces that are wholly excluded and seen as separatist? These online situations are just as frustrating to me as the offline world.

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by: Pam Spaulding @ Sat May 17, 2008 at 11:39:46 AM CDT

[ Parent ]

Black / minority voices in Michigan

I agree that minorities are totally under-represented in the blogosphere, but I don't think it's a deliberate exclusion.  

Blogging For Michigan (bloggingformichigan.com) has made a real effort to get minority voices onto our front page.  I've even approached some of the teachers & administrators in Detroit & Flint area schools, to ask them to blog about the challenges they face.  I've also reached out through the Democratic Party caucus list.  We just can't find people to write about this stuff.

I think that all minorities are under-represented.  Not just ethnic minorities, but people living in (or actively fighting) poverty, people with disabilities, the lgbt population, etc.  We've reached out to all of these groups.  I've even offered compensation via advertising for their pet project, or a small bit of cash per post.  I just can't interest these folks in blogging.

If someone required that I send a black blogger to Denver for BFM, I don't think I could have applied for credentials.  That would have been really disappointing, after all of the efforts that we've made to be a place of inclusion for the minority populations in Michigan.  

The community blogs should be aware that minority voices are under-represented, but I also think that minorities should be more willing to seek out places like BFM to speak.  I would love to have conversations about race and poverty and religion and policy, that come from a different perspective, but I can't make anyone blog.  

I don't know what more we can do to get minority voices represented. I'd love to hear ideas on this.  

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by: Christinebarry @ Sun May 18, 2008 at 07:35:35 AM CDT

[ Parent ]

more minorities writing about state issues

I don't agree that there should be a fixed representation of minority bloggers at the convention based on some kind of population metric -- I'm sure there are those who will disagree with me on this.

I think there should be more minorities blogging about state issues at those blogs most likely to be selected, and this issue is avoided altogether. The question is, how are those people found?

I would suggest that blogs interested in "finding" minority bloggers see who's attending Blogging While Brown, a conference that will obviously bring together a lot of minority bloggers who don't show up on A-List blogs.

That's a start; I would suggest that blogs interested in "finding" minority bloggers see who's attending Blogging While Brown, a conference that will obviously bring together a lot of minority bloggers who don't show up on A-List blogs.

There is a also list of the members of the AfroSpear, a community of African/Black progressive minded bloggers (ironically, the Blend is not on it).

There is a flip side to the coin - one state blogger said at a conference he asked some POC attending if they know any POC were writing about his state's issues, and asked that he would love to add them to the roster. No one ever contacted him. Perhaps state issues haven't been as much of a concern (as opposed to general interest or national politics), for many on the list, therefore the pool is smaller and harder to identify.

We're talking about blogging state politics, and getting minorities interested in blogging local, not national issues -- how their legislature works, how city government works, knowing candidates involved in local and state races. How many minorities are blogging at that level? I have no idea. Clearly there are plenty of minority grassroots activists, but only a slice of them have the time and energy to devote to developing a regular online blogging presence in conjunction to all the hands-on work they do in their communities. Until those people are Net-activated, you're going to see that gap. Blogging, as I know full well, involves a lot of time, and if you have a day job and are an local activist in the field, I cannot imagine having the time to blog as well.

That's why outreach by state group blogs needs to continue; those with infrastructure for diaries (many on the selected do), make it possible for offline minority activist, pols, and groups contribute on occasion, rather than create a blog infrastructure they cannot keep current.  

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by: Pam Spaulding @ Sun May 18, 2008 at 10:03:36 AM CDT

[ Parent ]

Thanks

I checked out BWB but didn't see a list of participants, but I jacked your BIC list and am going through the AfroSpear blogs as well.  I'd really like to find bloggers who are based in Michigan.  Michigan already has some excellent black bloggers talking about poverty, race, and public education.  Unfortunately for us, they're all conservative bloggers.

I am surprised we didn't see more minority bloggers surface in Michigan in 2006, when the conservatives were pushing through prop 2, which amended our state constitution to prohibit affirmative action.  I didn't see any new bloggers pop up to fight that.

It's disappointing to see people upset about black bloggers not being represented, when we've worked so hard to recruit them and just can't find anyone.  I like how you referred to it as "outreach" ... maybe BFM should start thinking of a "minority outreach program."  I don't have any idea what that would look like, but it would be something a little more structured than our five mostly white middle-income front-pagers going, "Ummm ... who do we ask next?"

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by: Christinebarry @ Sun May 18, 2008 at 13:50:52 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

BWB List

I will TRY put up the list of attendees this weekend.  I suggest you take a look at some of the workshop panelist bios at the bottom of the homepage as well. I am the one that updates the site.  With all of the logistical details associated with the conference, I haven't had time.  That is why in some sense I have a bit of sympathy for the convention planners as they try to get themselves out of this pickle and I think they will.  T

Today I read an article about them not raising the amount of money needed to pull off the convention, but I don't remember where I saw the link anymore. But they have to be swilling antacids right about now with less than 100 days to go.  Hopefully out of this there can be a permanent group of people to bring up "inclusiveness" issues when these opportunities arise in the future.

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by: whataboutourdaughters @ Wed May 28, 2008 at 21:04:34 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

I write one of the blogs on the Daily Kos list

Which is New Mexico FBIHOP. I also write diaries at Kos on a semi-regular basis, all about New Mexico issues (I think a few have been non-NM issues but I try to stay with what I know best).

I was not chosen for the credentials, and, indeed, many of those on the Kos list were not chosen.

Albany Project, Blue Jersey, Michigan Liberal, MN Campaign Report, FLA Politics were all not chosen.  Kos only lists 14 state blogs; including my blog, that means nearly half were not chosen. So there goes that argument.

Also, just because I'm on the blog roll doesn't mean I get told what to do by Kos; I'm pretty sure that they don't do much reading of state-level blogs over there, as I have wrote about a poll or certain story only to have them bypass my blog to go to a traditional media source for their own front-page story.  

I don't agree with the "20% rule."  I think we can all agree it's a fact that minorities do not make up a large section of the political blogosphere. Especially at state-level blogs.  I do think we should be looking at quality of blogs; do we want to include certain blogs of poor quality to fill a sort of quota? No, that would be ridiculous.

And I don't say any of this as a part of the "whiteosphere" -- I'm Hispanic.  In my case, unlike in some other blogs, my blog was not chosen in favor of a blog written by a white woman.  For me, at least, I know race was not a factor -- after all, Hispanics make up the majority of New Mexicans.

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by: FBIHOP @ Sun May 18, 2008 at 22:05:24 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

A Few Thoughts

Hadn't recalled the blogger meeting with Clinton in Harlem until this controversy arose--funny how that meeting portended an overall strategy for the Clinton campaign. But I digress...

I'll be interested to see if there are any bloggers who say, "you know, I shouldn't have been picked" and pass their opportunity on to someone else. Of course, I doubt that anyone in the blogosphere is that magnanimous.

Did Gov. Dean or whoever led this blogger roundup release the metrics of the selection? Was it all about hits, Technorati ranking, frequency of posting or what? Also why were bloggers not required to self-identify as any other delegate on the floor has to?

At this point, the responsibility has to be, to some degree, on the bloggers--they have this incredible opportunity to be on the floor of the convention. Will they look to secure their blog's own power or will they discuss how they were selected, if that selection was just and what recommendations they have to improve the system? Will they collectively work with the bloggers covering the DNC from the press pool (who will presumably be more representative of the Party's diversity) to promote greater dialogue and understanding between the blogosphere on issues of race, sexuality and gender? If bloggers are really the Party's first line of defense in campaigns and we walk into the post-Clinton v. Obama era without a more effective way to discuss race and gender, we are screwed in November.

I hope bloggers step up and prove themselves to be as progressive as they'd like to think they are.  

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by: pecola @ Sat May 17, 2008 at 12:33:49 PM CDT

Blogger Selection

The criteria was out there on the website for months but, of course, I didn't bother to copy it down once I was done with it and my memory fails me.  I know that I had to include my Technarati authority, approx. daily hits, samples of my blog posts, samples of any other writing I have done, I was not asked about my ethnicity.  There had to be at least 120 political posts on the blog and you had to have had the blog active for at least a year, I believe.  That's about the limit of what I remember.

As I discussed on my blog and Pam discussed here, many of the blogs chosen were multi-contributor blogs which I'm sure were picked for their variety of voices.

Also - all the blogs picked had a very strong state focus.

I have been looking at the blogs of some of those folks who have complained.  All of them have almost a purely national focus and/or they are strictly issue-driven.  I don't see how choosing a blog like that would be representative of the state while they would fit in the General Blogger Pool just fine.  Those blogs have not been announced yet.  (Go, Pam!)

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by: CelticDiva @ Sat May 17, 2008 at 14:10:38 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

Cotton Mouth

We got hooked by someone with a grudge as you suggested.  The blog chosen has not had an article on state level or greater politics since March 11. We have no beef with the blog chosen, in fact the author writed for us from time to time. Currently there a quite a few national articles on our front page, but dig deeper.  We completely ignored the world outside of Mississippi during the weeks leading up to the bug win for Travis Childers last Tuesday.  I would say our state to federal ratio for posts is at least 3-1.

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by: Jeff Walters @ Sun May 18, 2008 at 02:42:27 AM CDT