Markos talks often about the "netroots", and how much our activism means to the future of the Democratic Party and the progressive movement.
More than four months ago, a team of people with a vision - including myself - set down a blueprint for an idea that was to become
Pacific Northwest Portal.
The site was inspired by communities such as Daily Kos and Atrios. But we were really moved into action by one huge event in our region - the Washington State gubernatorial election recount.
I still vividly remember that time. Misinformation was everywhere. A group of conservative bloggers had, some months earlier, teamed together in a group blog called Sound Politics. These people were in the right place at the right time - and they received a lot of attention from the media because they were covering the recount nonstop.
They teamed up with local talk radio hosts like KVI and KTTH (microcosms of national shows like Rush Limbaugh and Hannity that focus on mostly local politics) to create a very powerful echo chamber.
continued below the jump...
We realized then they had an influence on regional media coverage - and there was no strong counterbalance.
Sound Politics and other sites not only benefited from conservative talk radio exposure, but they also got exposure from FOX News Channel nationally, and their URLs were printed on postcards sent out to thousands upon thousands of homes by the Building Industry Association of Washington (BIAW). Many of you are doubtless familiar with the BIAW. The BIAW was also taking out ads in newspapers and on local TV.
Washington State - as well as Oregon for that matter, are known as "blue" states because both have supported Kerry and Gore in recent elections. But the threat from these conservative bloggers seemed very large. We resolved that something had to be done about this situation.
We knew that there were already quite a few progressive/liberal bloggers in Washington and Oregon. Additionally, we wanted to tie in Idaho to help progressives there. So we began designing our own regional information gateway and media information center. We created a blueprint that eventually evolved into Pacific Northwest Portal.
And over four months later, Pacific Northwest Portal is, as I have noted earlier, making a huge difference.
The website has evolved into a clearinghouse on progressive blogs and a resource for progressives regionally and nationwide. Twenty-four blogs are now syndicated, and today - an additional ninety six are linked from our directory - for a total of 120 progressive blogs.
We also have a listing of all the local Air America stations - in Seattle, Spokane, Corvallis, and Eugene - and newswires with mainstream media stories for each NW state and then one for all of the U.S. The "newswires" are equipped with advanced filters to keep out sites like WorldNetDaily, NewsMax, and FOX News.
We have another directory with the most comprehensive list of Pacific NW newspapers, TV stations, and radio stations to be found anywhere, to help progressives reach the mainstream media.
We have a Highlights section which showcases the best media and content in the Northwest categorized by month, sourced and dated. You can find links to important blog posts, articles, and columns within the last couple of months.
Pacific Northwest Portal is more than a news and information site, though. It's become a community. It's fostered an amazing degree of cooperation among the different bloggers throughout the region. Bloggers and activists are talking together, strategizing together, and working together - like never before.
We're received dozens of e-mails from progressives telling us the portal is their new browser start page, or that they turn to us first for political news. Reporters from mainstream media publications frequently surf Pacific NW Portal to see what the progressive blogs are saying.
Today, Pacific Northwest Portal is unveiling a new Toolkit section.
The "Toolkit" section replaces our old Business News Center. It now not only includes business news, but also weather & traffic information for the entire Pacific Northwest. You can look up the current weather conditions for your area, check traffic cameras to see what the roads are like, keep tabs on northwest stocks, and read financial/business news - all from one page. It's all part of our commitment to serve as your news and information source.
Pacific Northwest Portal is the netroots at work. We are unique, community driven, and we are independent. The site has created a strong bond between all the fine progressive bloggers in this great region. It has united us into a more powerful, more mobilized, community.
And increased unity is something we're going to need if we are going to effectively combat the right wing. Markos writes on his About page:
We desperately need to catch the Right in the Blogger Wars, and I am proud of each and every person who has the guts and initiative to start his or her own weblog. The progressive movement of the future will be built, in large part, on this digital foundation.
Pacific Northwest Portal is a significant little chunk of that digital foundation - representing 120 progressive bloggers in three states (and counting - last time, it was 106 progressive bloggers).
This project has exceeded our expectations in what we hoped we could accomplish with it. But we can go even further. I and others have published this diary and numerous other diaries here on Daily Kos, and I can certainly write on our
team's blog.
But I am not Kos, or a guest blogger, for that matter. If Markos or a guest blogger is willing to give us some attention, we could not only increase awareness of Pacific Northwest Portal as a resource, but also potentially inspire others to follow our example and start their own projects.
Perhaps if Markos sees the site and likes it enough, he'll add it to his blogroll. But that's his decision to make.
I firmly believe that a network of portals or access points similar to ours would certainly create a very strong "digital foundation" for the progressive movement - the kind of "digital foundation" Markos talks about.
If you haven't seen Pacific Northwest Portal yet, I strongly encourage you to take a good look. And even if you have, you should go visit our new Toolkit section.
Additionally, if you're a progressive blogger in the NW and you aren't in our directory - we want to hear from you immediately. Let us know you're out there so we can add you - we can usually get your site up on the directory within a couple weeks. Bloggers who contacted us the last time around will now see their sites on our directory page.
Thanks to all who visit and promote Pacific NW Portal. Your support has made this site into what it is today. And as always, we are attentive to your feedback. You can send us a message through our Feedback page.