I am working with my local Obama Campaign on volunteer orientation. As part of that effort, I want to develop some instructions for participating in online blogs and posting to comments sections of online media. Below the fold is my draft of that section of our online volunteer handbook. I'm hoping to get some feedback, suggestions and ideas to make it as strong as possible before I start using it. Thanks in advance for your help.
Hello New Obama Blogger!
Blogging and posting comments is a good way to counter misinformation, spin and lies in the media.
The Main Stream Media (MSM) often covers Obama in a two dimensional way, relates Republican talking points or just talks about the horse-race and not the substance. Many of these outlets have online sites with opportunities to post comments. This is a good opportunity to correct misinformation and encourage people to resist the ugly smear tactics of the McCain campaign by reminding them that there are real issues of grave importance to consider.
Some tips:
ALWAYS be reasoned and civil.
When in doubt, fact check (look on Obama's website http://www.barackobama.com/... in the issues section for specific policies, check allegations at snopes.com, google).
Include links, quotes and citations in your post.
When appropriate, point out the Republicans' history of smears and lying (with the media manipulated or complicit) that gave us the last eight years.
End with an upbeat, hopeful summary that includes one of Obama's themes like "a new kind of politics" or "change you can believe in."
I have a collection of posts that I have made - if you would like to see some examples, let me know.
BELOW ARE SOME LINKS TO PLACES WHERE YOU CAN POST. DON'T BE DISCOURAGED BY REALLY DUMB, PROVOCATIVE COMMENTS. "TROLLS" ARE PEOPLE WHO TRY TO PULL THE COMMENTS OFF-MESSAGE WITH VILE ATTACKS AND STUPIDNESS. STAY WITH A RESPONSE TO THE ACTUAL NEWS STORY OR TO A COMMENT THAT SEEMS LIKE IT'S BY A SINCERE PERSON WITH MISINFORMATION.
You will have to register on each site in order to post a comment. It's a good idea to keep a notebook of your usernames and passwords in case you forget them. If I especially like the wording of something I wrote, I cut and past it into an e-mail to myself BEFORE I post it in case it gets lost once I push the button. Then I can cut and paste them into other posts.
TV news websites:
http://www.cbsnews.com/
http://elections.foxnews.com/
http://abcnews.go.com/...
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/
http://www.cnn.com/
Political/News blogs:
http://www.politico.com/
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/
Blog focused on electing "more and better Democrats." Lots of ideas and discussion on many topics:
http://www.dailykos.com/
Some newspapers online:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/
http://online.wsj.com/...
This one is NYT Political Blog page. You can go to the rest of the paper from here, too:
http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/
Obama 08 - Yes We Can!