March 31, 2005
Iranian Presidential Candiate/Blogger
Folks around the blogoshpere are starting to question if the first blogging President will be Iranian. Mostafa Moeen, a reformist party candidate running for president of Iran, is blogging to his peeps.
This blog could be about cooking recipies for all I know, but Hossein Derakhshan, a sound blogger who writes about technology and pop culture in Iran, has been paraphrasing what the site says.
Thanks Hossein, this is a pretty amazing evolution taking place.
Posted by Buzz Webster at 06:04 AM | Permalink | Comments (5)
March 30, 2005
World Wide Web Is Wild Wild West Of Politics
I’ve always been amazed at the things that go on in the online world on politics. I’ve also always been amazed at what people will do to for money, but I’ve save that for another post.
The correct response to all of the following wild (or at least moderately entertaining) news updates should be “Are you serious?”
- It appears Jeff Gannon is back in action, ahem, and being welcomed with open arms at the national press club. Gannon former White House reporter/escort is set to be on a panel discussing bloggers and online journalism… with Wonkette.
- Whether it’s real or not bloggers are swarming around the Schiavo ‘Talking Points’ Memo. Perhaps the memo has the same author as the ‘CBS Memo’ seeing as they have the same last name.
- Remember Denis Kucinich, he still wants your money. On April 5, he’ll relaunch http://www.kucinich.us, the Web site originally used for his 2004 Presidential campaign.
- New Jersey might have another Dean style campaign on its hands as Joe Territo reports Sen. Jon Corzine's (D-NJ) gubernatorial campaign "is planning to seriously use weblogs to network with the public." If you have a blog and support Corzine, he'll even add you to his blogroll.
- Jeff Jarvis is telling secrets about Star blogging. In one of the worst-kept secrets around, Arianna Huffington, blogger and blog lover, is starting an online thing -- group blog, zine, whatever -- that is supposed to be attracting big names to little media.
-Townhall.com, one of the nation's most active conservative Web sites, announced recently that it has split from parent company the Heritage Foundation. It's a deliberate strategy for Townhall — home to 68 columnists and destination reading for 1.5 million people a month.
- It’s a real hoot at the Republican "March Madness Presidential Tournament." Congressman Tom Tancredo is unexpectedly doing very well, making him consider a presidential instead of a congressional bid. I hope he’s not serious.
CHAMPIONSHIP GAME: April 4.
Posted by Buzz Webster at 05:34 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
March 25, 2005
Online Politicking Rules Under Debate
The US Federal Election Commission (FEC) on Thursday proposed new ways of apply campaign finance rules to political activity on the internet, asking for public input on limited regulations for the medium.
The FEC, which is beginning to consider restrictions on political advertising, blogs, and other online activities, released a document describing the legal issues it plans to take on over the next few months. The agency plans to hold a public hearing on the issue and then vote on the final regulations later this year.
Members of congress concerned about possible new regulations have sent letters to the FEC urging that a press exemption apply to the Internet. Senator Harry Reid, D-Nev., has also introduced legislation that would exempt Internet politicking from most of campaign finance regulations.
Netizens have likewise been actively trying to persuade the FEC on the issue. In preparation for the FEC's expected vote, a group of bloggers and political activists have organized a petition to the commission through the website Online Coalition. The petition has received over 3,200 electronic signatures as of Friday morning.
More:
Election Commission Urges Finance Rules For Online Politics
FEC Signals Light Hand On Internet Campaigning
Bloggers Narrowly Dodge Federal Crackdown
Internet Election Rules Could Be Blocked
FEC Draft Rules (PDF)
Posted by Buzz Webster at 05:46 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
March 24, 2005
Doors To Diplomacy
Contributing Editor Bob Pyke passed on some important youth news:
Doors to Diplomacy 2005 - an online project design competition to raise awareness about foreign diplomacy issues is in need of reviewers.
[ADDITIONAL REVIEWERS NEEDED - PLEASE HELP US GET THE WORD OUT] SEEKING VOLUNTEER REVIEWERS for CyberFair & Doors to Diplomacy:
If you would like to be an Independent Reviewer (and you are not already a CyberFair participant), please sign up now to become a reviewer for: International Schools CyberFair 2005 - Prepare & Unite an online project design competition that focuses on the future.
Posted by Buzz Webster at 08:34 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
March 23, 2005
Podcasting Politician Breakout
I’ve received a lot of email today on John Edwards' first Podcast. Yes, it looks like he is the first national politician to do one of these, unless you count Donnie Folwer’s DNC bid, which didn’t have an RSS feed.
I’m not a proponent of long podcasts, but Edwards’ is over 20 minutes. However, everyone I have talked to loved it. I listened to it, and it is does go by quickly, maybe because of how genuine it comes across.
Podcast Here. Press Release Here.
I would suggest you listen to it, no matter what side of the fence your on, for no other reason than because it’s well done. I’m also suggesting that Republicans do more of this.
In fact one of the folks at PoliticsOnline hopes to lobby the White House in order to get them podcasting the President’s weekly radio address. How incredible would that be?
And since we are on the subject of podcasting politicians. There’s a California candidate you should know about because of his pioneering podcasting and other online invoations.
Meet Scott Chacon. He’s running for Congress in California's 11th district, and his campaign is different.
Here’s a few of the online innovations he’s implementing, besides podcasting and blogging. (from an email)
1) Micro-Goals and Reports
- I am accepting contributions of $100 max, and not for a general fund, but towards what I call Micro-Goals; small goals of a few hundred to a few thousand dollars that a handful of donations could cover. When they get fulfilled, I send a customized report of the results of that goal to the donors and post it on the website. So you not only get to see how your money is spent, you get recognized for the contribution.
2) Instant and Total Disclosure
- I will be putting all of my donations and expenditures online in real time - as they are received or spent on a daily basis. You will be able to see them on a webpage including amount, donor or payee, notes and micro-goal spent for or donated to.
- I will also be putting all of my campaign related meetings online as they happen, including who I met with, what we discussed and audio or video as enclosures if available.
- both of these will be web pages as well as RSS feeds.
3) Open Schedule
- I don't know if you saw this on the site, but I have an open schedule - anyone in the district can schedule me to be anywhere, first come, first serve. It is like "Campaign Manager for a Day", but all the time.
That's only the campaign website - I'm also working on backend tools for mailings, precinct captains coordination, and voter tracking.
Posted by Buzz Webster at 04:32 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)
March 22, 2005
Tuesday Buzz
Here’s a little buzz for today.
Zax Exley of MoveOn.org is chatting it up with Britain and France on the role of the internet.
The full text of Glenn Reynolds' and FEC Chariman Scott Thomas' keynote speeches from the Politics Online Conference is available thanks to redstate.org.
Looks like Senator Harry Reid is the new blogospere patriot, advocating for FEC exemptions. Reid has introduced legislation that would effectively overturn a federal judge's decision from last year that brought Internet politicking under the ambit of a controversial campaign finance law.
Ourmedia.org the folks who promised to “store your video, podcasts or digital photo collection for free — forever. No catches" is still shut down from a traffic explosion.
And last but not least, news on a clear sign that Sen. Clinton is ready to run for president in 2008. The National Arbitration Forum announced today that a ruling has been issued in favor of Hillary Rodham Clinton regarding rights to the Internet domain name hillaryclinton.com.
Posted by Buzz Webster at 06:13 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
March 21, 2005
Presidential March Madness
It's never too early to run for President. Print out your own Presidential March Madness Brackets at SurveySaintLouis.com.
Hat tip to Steven Clift.
Posted by Buzz Webster at 04:49 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
March 20, 2005
Copeland Interview
Henry Copeland pretty much rules the Blog Ad world. Here’s his latest press interview with the folks at Right Wing News.
Posted by Buzz Webster at 12:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
March 19, 2005
New K-street Website En Ingles
From The Mail Bag – Cool New K-street Website En Ingles
Since two years ago, approximately I have been writing a blog about
e-government topics "K-Government Blog" but only in Spanish. And now, I have started to publish it in English version, you can check it out here. I invite everybody to visit it and contribute with your ideas and opinions. I am sure that you can find in it something interesting.
Kind Regards
Karlos Guadian Orta
Posted by Buzz Webster at 11:40 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
March 18, 2005
What Youth Think
From The Mail Bag - Here an interesting email I recently received, but not really ePolitics related:
My name is Seth Spores; I am one of the three editors and co-founders of College Tree Publishing. We contacted hundreds of university and college conservative and liberal groups, political science departments, and university news papers and requested essay submissions from people in the 17 to 25 year old age group on political and social issues. The end result was What We Think: Young Voters Speak Out, which was put out nationally in late October. The book was meant to be a running forum for political expression of America's youngest voting demographic, and in that regard has been a success. Since the book was published in October, the book has already received national press on CNN, MSNBC, an hour long special on CSPAN-Book TV and has been nominated for the Franklin Award.
We are a non-partisan company possessing a Republican, Democrat and Libertarian leaning editor, trying to give fair and equal voice to all ideologies present among college age youth. We are currently accepting submissions for our next two books, What We Think 2 and What We Think About God and looking to increase the number of well written pieces. Our goal is to receive 10,000 submissions from now through summer, and to publish the top 200 to 300 in late third quarter.
I am contacting many blogs and other forms of media not necessarily connected to Universities, in hopes of reaching a wider base of essayists. We would like to know if you would run a short story on your blog, stating that we are requesting submissions for national publication. All authors are given full credit for their work, a short bio is dedicated to them in the back of the books, and we've been arranging book signings and talks across the country for authors in our current edition so these young authors get the credit and visibility they deserve. Let me stress finally that individuals submitting need not be in college to qualify for publication.
Please feel free to contact us with questions or requests for more information. Our website is CollegeTreePublishing.com.
Posted by Buzz Webster at 04:36 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
March 17, 2005
John Edwards To Pod Cast
Well it’s official, the former U.S. senator and VP hopeful (and possible 2008 presidential candidate) is set to be the first real deal politician-podcaster.
I first learned of the news from Amy Gahran, who tells of how this all came to pass here. It's actually pretty interesting.
It is also interesting that the first two political podcasters (Donnie Fowler and John Edwards) are S.C. natives who are both Democrats and both lost while running for a high ranking position. It’s also been rumored they can both put a hurtin’ on a Ryan’s buffet line. Pretty freaky I know.
Posted by Buzz Webster at 06:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)
Senate Filibuster Battle Goes Online
Girding for a showdown over judicial nominations, Senate Democratic leaders yesterday threatened to slow or stop all but the most essential legislative business if Republicans strip them of their ability to stop presidential nominees from being confirmed, according to the Seattle PI.
Though the battle will ultimately be played out on the floor of the Senate, the online world is making noise from the virtual balconies. Some of the first efforts include:
DNC Drive To “Protect Free Speech in the Senate”
RightMarch.com Effort To “Stop MoveOn and Liberal Senators from Judicial Tyranny!”
RedState.org Educates On The Difference Between Legislative And Nomination Filibusters
Senator Reid Gives First Ever Online Media Interview To Laud Filibusters
Posted by Buzz Webster at 09:14 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
March 14, 2005
POLC Recap
Last Thursday and Friday was an excellent time to be had by all (especially political geeks) at the Politics Online Conference at The George Washington University.
I’ve complied a short list of some of best coverage from blogs that covered the conference.
Rexblog covered Day 1 and Day 2 with general observations and reflections.
Patrick Ruffini was on panel and in love with Trippi’s $100 dollar revolution
http://www.patrickruffini.com/archives/2005/03/blogger_smackdo.php
PDF loved the $100 idea too.
http://www.personaldemocracy.com/node/435
WizBang provided a little coverage and was in love with the onlinecoalition.com idea.
http://wizbangblog.com/archives/005338.php
I'll try and post some pictures tonight.
Posted by Buzz Webster at 04:19 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
March 11, 2005
POLC Waves Good Bye
That’s all folks; the conference is over except for a cocktail party and the announcement of the Golden Dot Awards.
The great MSM versus New Media debate was rather dull (read - too polite to be entertaining like Jerry Springer), but it did help frame some of the dominant themes of the conference:
- The internet and politics are here now and we are stuck with it forever.
- Bloggers clearly have an influence in politics, media and society but unfortunately one at the conference or anyone else really understands what their impact will be.
- The role of bloggers as journalists is a hot topic and no one really wants the FEC to make that decision (in regards to campaigning), but it is very likely they will with little influence in making that decision coming from the blogosphere.
- The internet is a global phenom and we need to look to other countries for ideas and information.
- Old Media has certainly impacted New Media and Old Media is generally not very friendly towards New Media.
- The niche of ePolitics is expanding and there is certainly a lot of money to be made on the private side and potentially a lot of democracy to be spread on the public side.
- The internet is no longer a tool of politics, but the medium through which all operations are integrated.
DA
Posted by Buzz Webster at 05:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
POLC MSM vs New Media Death Battle Quotes 2
More death battle quotes – one of these is untrue as well.
“I never said we were doing a great job at the Washington Post.”
- Sloan
“Everybody’s got to eat, as the President said, everybody has to put food on their children.”
-Sieger
“The substance of the facts that matter to the people are not put in front of us by the corporate media.”
- Lytel
“I mean come on Jeff Gannon’s not all bad once you get to know him.”
- Hindraker
Posted by Buzz Webster at 05:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
POLC MSM vs New Media Death Battle Quotes
Death Battle Quotes
One of these is a fake quote.
"It takes one dollar a day to operate Powerline, our site is essentially free."
-Hindraker
"The Internet is here to stay and plays a central role in people's lives."
-Sloan
"The power of the blog is that the editor is the writer...and often the visitor."
-Sieger
"I'll kill you and your family if you ever, ever read my blog"
-Lytel
DA
Posted by Buzz Webster at 05:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
MSM versus New Media Death Fight
The last session of the day is the great debate of whether or not the Old Media and the New Media can coexist.
David Lytel (Left.org) and John Hindraker (Powerline) are actually on the same team battling Jonah Sieger (Connections Media) and Cliff Sloan (Washington Post)
So far the battle is about as wild as a bridge game with my grandma.
Posted by Buzz Webster at 05:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Keynote Lunch Update 3
The lunch is over and was relatively uneventful or controversial, besides the online coalition letter.
I just visited the site and commend the nerds who put this together lastnight, while I was out enjoyings dinner.
Three panels are up next and I'm going to - On the Frontier: New Faces, New Voices, New Visions, which will be paneled by "the best and the brighest of the new guard in Internet Politics."
DA
Posted by Buzz Webster at 02:36 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Keynote Lunch Update 2
Michael Bassik is up with a letter…uh oh!
He's talking about Onlinecoalition.com, which was literally developed overnight.
The website was built around a around a letter to the FEC voicing the concerns of bloggers and the rest of the online world. Over 600 bloggers have signed the letter.
Bassik just presented the letter to Thomas.
DA
Posted by Buzz Webster at 02:27 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
POLC KeyNote Lunch
I am heading into the Keynote Lunch – Speakers are FEC Chairman Scott Thomas and the Instapundit Glen Reynolds.
Most of the conversation from both speakers in on the topic of the FEC’s upcoming ruling on the use of the internet in campaigning.
Reynolds is obviously not a fan of the FEC and upcoming rulings.
Glen Reynolds … that crazy guy is full of one liners.
“Blogs are not power brokers, they are power breakers”
“People are the new power brokers”
“As we say at MicroSoft It’s not a bug, it’s a feature”
”If you can’t rely on the word of senator… then you are inWashington”
Judge Thomas is getting hammered by questions, but holding up very well.
DA
Posted by Buzz Webster at 02:17 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Online Mobilization Panel
I just out of the United We Stand – Online Mobilization Panel.
Robert Hahn was probably the most interesting person on the panel. He is the Executive Director of Free Republic Network and also happened to web work for the Swift Boat Vets.
Melissa Boasberg of the Kerry-Edwards campaign (also on the panel) nearly fell out of her seat when Hahn told the audience of his role with the Swifties.
Andrew Stocking had some hints for how you should progress in asking for money through emails.
Progress in three steps –
- First Education
- Then Take Action
- Next Ask For Money
Hahn said a great way to find out more about your visitors is to metatrack all the categorities post and articles that go up on your site. If you have a client login, use it to where folks go, and use this info for your email campaigns.
Other thoughts from the panel
- sharing and cooperation of email lists among like minded groups is a good way to grow your base and subscribers are generally positive of this type of coordination.
- Kee the momentum going in an online campaign with Feedback, feedback, and morefeed back – report your successes no matter how small, and engage them in a dialogue instead of talking to them when you need money.
- Watch out for Key words in your message. Get a spam filter and test your emails against it before you send out an email.
DA
Posted by Buzz Webster at 01:39 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Tracking The Buzz Through Blogs
From David Abel:
The "blogging buzz" session is underway with both Bush and Kerry web strategists on the panel.
A strong concern of the audience is the issue of trust.
"How can we know who's blogging and don't we need to know for the sake of credibility" was asked.
The short answer -anonymity is great and the web is self governing.
Posted by Buzz Webster at 11:40 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Dropping The Ball From The POLC
From David Abel:
Well, its day two of the confernece and this my first post. Unfortunately there was no internet access in my hotel or at the conference yesterday.
Thanks to Issue Dynamics INC., for the wireless access today
Now that I am done with the excuses, I'll say that the conference has gotten off to a good start.
Here are a few of the themes that floated around on Thursday.
- The basic sentiments of at the opening of the conference is that the internet has not only arrived in politcs, but "we" are now stuck with it.
- Segmentation of online supporters by affinity and demographics is an upcoming trend and new tool campaigns are focusing on.
- There is an idea that email list collaboration between like-minded groups will also increase.
- A commisioner of the FEC was also present and promised new rules to regulation of the internet and politics was coming within 30 days... and the rules could get pretty ridiculous.
DA
Posted by Buzz Webster at 10:55 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
March 10, 2005
PoliticsOnline In D.C.
Phil Noble and David Abel of PoliticsOnline will be at the Politics Online Conference in D.C. Thursday and Friday at the George Washington University.
If you are at the conference, be sure to say hello.
David Abel will be blogging some of the events on this blog and Phil Noble is set to speak twice at the conference.
The event organizers have promised wireless internet access on Friday only, but we will try to keep you updated as much as possible.
Posted by Buzz Webster at 05:30 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Blogosphere And 04 Elections Report
I'm passing this on from the folks at BlogPulse
In case you haven't seen it yet, today's BlogPulse from Intelliseek features a fascinating paper released this week by Intelliseek/BlogPulse senior researcher Natalie Glance and HP Labs researcher Lada Adamic about the influence of liberal/conservative political bloggers on the political landscape during the 2004 U.S. Presidential election.
"The Political Blogosophere and the 2004 U.S. Election: Divided They Blog"
can be downloaded at http://www.blogpulse.com, and today's BlogPulse blog entry contains a summary of key findings.I think you'll find some intriguing findings and insights in the research.
I haven't read the report yet, but hope to break it down soon and report back to the blog.
Posted by Buzz Webster at 12:01 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
March 09, 2005
A Present For International Womans Day
Eastern Europe Contributing Editor Rimvydas Kriukelis has passed on his latest impressions on how the internet is being used by Chechen officials:
About one month ago the Chechen moderate opposition leader Aslan Maskhadov, who was elected President of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria in 1997, introduced an order on the ceasefire suspending all offensive military operations against Russian targets, invited Russia to open the peace talks, and asked for the international community support for that process (more: Prague Watchdog, Chechen Republic Of Ichkeria Ministry Of Foreign Affairs).
Putin’s administration did not make official reply to Maskhadov’s offer. Moreover, yesterday, 8th of March, A. Maskhadov has been killed by elite units of the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) during the operation in Tolstoi-Yurt, north of Grozny (more: RIA Novosti).
Various points of view immediately were reflected in different Internet sites after that fact was firstly announced by Russian officials. Most of the websites present information in two of three foreign languages.
Vice-Premier of pro-Russian Chechen Government Ramzan Kadyrov cynically commented the death of A. Maschadov as a “present” for the International Woman’s Day which in the post-Soviet countries usually is celebrated giving flowers to women.
”By killing Maskhadov, the Kremlin has killed the last illusion in those Chechens who no matter what still believed in the so-called “international law” and civilized forms of communication with today’s regime in Moscow”, said Movladi Udugov, Chief of External Subcommittee of Informational Council of Chechen Republic of Ichkeria (more: Kavkaz Center).
It seems that the Internet is becoming more and more used not only by official Russian “propaganda”, but also by other confronting sides. The use of Internet is making more complicated for officials to block a spread of unwished information, and it is not efficient anymore only to present the “dry” facts.
Many of Internet links representing different opinions about recent events in Chechen Republic of Ichkeria can be found in the website Human Rights Violations in Chechnya which provides information, news and updates on the human rights violations in Chechnya.
Posted by Buzz Webster at 05:38 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
March 08, 2005
There Is No FEC Threat
Last week’s CNet article on The FEC’s crackdown on blogging sent knee’s a jerkin’ through the blogoshpere, perpetuating a virtual hissy fit. My first reaction, like many others, was to have a temper tantrum and call my senator. I’ve grown since then.
Amidst the confusion, there was a statement sent out last Friday by the Campaign Legal Center basically telling bloggers to calm down and breathe into a paper bag, because “There is no FEC threat to the Internet.”
The short of it is that it doesn’t make sense to regulate the blogoshpere even if it was possible. However, online political ads will surely be regulated next time around.
Read it here.
It was a very rational and accurate statement, however, we regret that it just hit the Web too late to make the news cycle. In PoliticsOnline’s situation, we published our weekly newsletter the PoliTicker before we found the statement from the CLC.
Sometimes the Rapid Response news cycle works on the side of chaos more so than on the side of better, timely information.
Posted by Buzz Webster at 05:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
March 07, 2005
RightMarch.com Interview
Another online interview up at PoliticsOnline.com - audio and transcipt available.
The Expert:
| Bill Greene of RightMarch.com speaks with PoliticsOnline about the origins on the conservative online group and how it’s leading the "Virtual March from the Right". RightMarch.com is a powerful online PAC having a strong impact with over 2 million members nationwide. |
I think this is the best one yet.
Posted by Buzz Webster at 05:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
The Internet And Campaign 2004
A new report “The Internet and Campaign 2004” was released Sunday by the PEW. There's a lot of great information in the report. Here’s a few of the highlights.
Findings include:
• The internet was a key force in politics last year as 75 million Americans used it to get news, discuss candidates in emails, and participate directly in the political process
• Television remained the dominant medium for most voters, but 18 percent said they got most of their political news from the Internet, compared with 17 percent who said they turned to the radio for their news.
• Nearly 60% of the campaign news seekers cited convenience as their main reason for using the Internet. But one-third said they did feel they got all the news and information they wanted from TV and newspapers.
• 52% of internet users, or about 63 million people, said they went online to get news or information about the 2004 elections. We call them online political news consumers.
• 35% of internet users, or about 43 million people, said they used email to discuss politics, and one of the most popular email subjects was jokes about the candidates and the election.
• 11% of internet users, or more than 13 million people, went online to engage directly in campaign activities such as donating money, volunteering, or learning about political events to attend.
In addition, in 2004:
• 31 million went online to find out how candidates were doing in opinion polls.
• 25 million used the internet to check the accuracy of claims made by or about the candidates.
• 19 million watched video clips about the candidates or the election.
• 17 million sent emails about the campaign to groups of family members or friends as part of listservs or discussion groups.
• 14 million signed up for email newsletters or other online alerts to get the latest news about politics.
• 7 million signed up to receive email from the presidential campaigns.
• 4 million signed up online for campaign volunteer activities such as helping to organize a rally, register voters, or get people to the polls on Election Day.
Posted by Buzz Webster at 11:56 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
March 05, 2005
Podcasting Series
This just in from the always entertaining John Hlinko of Grassroots Enterprise (& ActForLove.org & DraftWesleyClark.com).
Grassroots Enterprise is launching a new "podcasting" series, focusing specifically on innovations on the grassroots activism front, and on the interesting people who are making them happen.
You can also read more here, and you can listen to the first podcast here.
Posted by Buzz Webster at 11:59 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
March 04, 2005
Coming FEC Crackdown Could Be Aimed At Bloggers
Federal Election Commissioner Bradley Smith sent shockwaves through the blogosphere this week, warning that in just a few months, bloggers and news organizations could risk the wrath of the federal government if they improperly link to a campaign's Web site. New rulings on Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002, better known as the McCain-Feingold law, would bring about the changes.
Anyone who decides to ``set up a blog, send out mass e-mails, any kind of activity that can be done on the Internet'' could be subject to elections commission regulation, Commissioner Smith said in the interview with CNet.
Though alarming to many bloggers who posted on the subject, the news also brought a small degree of solidarity among dueling bloggers. Blogger Ed Morrissey of Captain’s Quarters wrote “McCain and Feingold have managed to foster real bipartisanship -- they've gotten liberal and conservative bloggers alike to detest them.”
Panel Set To Weigh Laws' Effect On Web Politicking
The Coming Crackdown On Blogging
Memeorandum Tracks Bloggers Response
Posted by Buzz Webster at 04:51 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
March 03, 2005
Kos And Instapundit Top Blogs
Chris Bowers at MyDD recently posted the top partisan, political blogosphere traffic rankings.
Here’s the top 10
Weekly Traffic Rankings (In Page Views)
• 1. Dailykos: 2,883,641
• 2. Instapundit: 1,145,308
• 3. Little Green Footballs: 846,016
• 4. Eschaton: 715,560
• 5. Americablog: 697,077
• 6. Powerline: 661,144
• 7. Raw Story: 611,198
• 8. Talking Points Memo: 531,093
• 9. Smirking Chimp: 476,034
• 10. Real Clear Politics: 347,194
More
Posted by Buzz Webster at 09:27 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
March 02, 2005
Social Security Battle Online
Remember Bush In 30 seconds...Well, this is nothing like it.
From a MoveOn.org email:
The Republicans are running a $100 million public relations blitz to convince Americans to privatize Social Security. Today, we're launching a contest to find an entertaining, memorable, and persuasive Macromedia Flash piece that can pierce the Republicans' spin. (A Flash is a kind of animation, game, slide show, or program that can be easily viewed on the Internet.) We believe that when we put our heads together, our creativity and authenticity can beat high-priced PR any day of the week.
Republicans aren't getting as flashy, but they're fighting the Social Security battle on the Web too.
From an RNC email:
Please share your thoughts about saving Social Security with friends and neighbors by visiting our new testimonial page at www.preservingsocialsecurity.com. While you're there don't forget to sign the Social Security petition tool.
And you just can't talk about Social Security and the Web these days without mentioning USA Next.
A USA Today article details USA Next's tactics, which appears to be a hybrid of direct-mail tactics and Internet fundraising.
Here's an excerpt:
The launch of our campaign has yielded tremendous results . . . We've had over 3 million hits at our website, www.usanext.org, in just the past week, sometimes at the rate of tens of thousands per minute.
Posted by Buzz Webster at 05:06 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Cool Yard Sign Builder
The next round of local elections will be here before you know it, and so I wanted to mention a neat idea for your online strategic planning pleasure.
VictoryStore.com has introduced the coolest campaign sign design tool which allows candidates to design their own sign without the cost of a designer. Take a minute to look at it. Try it, its a fairly powerful change in one small part of politics.
Thank you Steve Grubs for the FYI.
Posted by Buzz Webster at 03:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
March 01, 2005
Blogs Subvert Government Censorship In Nepal
After the February 1st Royal Takeover in Nepal, King Gyandendra censored the media, arrested journalists and cut communications. But tech-savvy journalists are using their blogs to get news out to the rest of the world, according to Online Journalism Review.
Asia Media reports that in the fight against the King Gyanendra's media censorship, the Internet is playing a vital and unexpected role. Bloggers are becoming Nepal's new watchdogs. In the face of strict rules restricting print, television and radio communications, Nepali journalists have begun using web logs, or blogs, to communicate their opinions and news to the outside world.
There are currently two blogs run by Nepalese journalists, Radio Free Nepal (http://freenepal.blogspot.com/) and United We Blog! (http://www.blog.com.np/), which have generated considerable interest in the blog community.
Blogs Rise Above The Nepal Information Coup
Nepalese Journos Start Blogs
Nepalese Bloggers, Journalists Defy Media Clampdown By King
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New Additions
I've updated the blogroll and wanted to highlight the new editions.
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