No, it's not an endorsement. Trust me, folks. On the other hand, David All, GOP New Media guru has pointed me towards an article in the The Washington Times, a publication which I normal ignore but for some reason has a really good take on how Senator McCain doesn't just dismiss bloggers as "bloggers," as in HRC's "The Blogs were going crazy" video.
Although David and I don't agree eye-to-eye on many things (while I'm issue-oriented towards tech, he's very much a total political animal on the GOP side and I respect that) he makes a very important point about the changing nature of media that technology allows for:
"It gave him a microphone when others had already left the building," said David All, one of the Republicans' Web pioneers who runs Slate Card.com and who said Mr. McCain has benefited from Mr. Hynes' ties to bloggers. "That very much symbolizes the role of bloggers: We don't have editors to report to, and there isn't a big meeting with editors every morning. What that comes down to is personal relationships."
Can someone enlighten to me when reporting news ceased to be about personal relationships? If anything, the rise of social media, blogs (god I hate that term) and independent journalism has boosted the necessity of maintaining relationships and *gasp* networking, not just telling someone who you write for and hoping they'll think you're important. These days, everyone is important and you can't afford to give people who want to talk to you the brush-off.
Sure, I could be described as a "liberal blogger" although I prefer to focus on issues and not ideology (remember when I supported Utah's plan for opt-in 'net censorship?) and politicians relationship with the tech industry/new media and the other way around.
David has hit it right on the head. I'll sit down with you and hit "record" and I'll put your words out there for all to hear. Not just one "macaca" moment to be re-played over and over again, but I'll put the whole thing out there. I explain how I do things before I interview people. How do you think I get people to talk to me? They trust me, whether they agree with me or not (The CTO of the MPAA who I questioned earlier in the day thursday sat down for 25 minutes with me to talk because I let him know that I wanted his side totally on the record, not some sound bite) and in turn I give them the respect of reporting their words, not spinning them, not editing them to death, just being honest.
Honestly is the best policy, and that's how you maintain a relationship, and a legacy.
Thanks for the tip off, David.
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