There are paid lobbyists posting daily on DKos, and there are, to my knowledge, no rules regulating the practice. Should there be? This diary looks at the phenomenon and concludes that there should.
The DKos FAQs provide a general idea about who posts and can post in the Kos universe:
Who posts here?
The quick answer is "anyone who wants to". There are a wide variety of people writing diaries and comments on dkos. They include elected politicians, candidates hoping to become elected politicians, experts in a range of fields, and active bloggers from around the net. The vast majority of writers, however, are ordinary citizens interested in talking about and participating in the political process.
The "quick answer" doesn't answer my question, as I'm aware of some posters who are not allowed on the blog, including persistent trolls, free advertisers, conspiracy theorists, etc. So, "anyone who wants to" can't post on DKos. The FAQ does, however, mention "active bloggers from around the net," but what about paid active bloggers, who are being paid specifically to write on DKos? To me, this smacks of lobbying, and I have qualms about it.
In fact, I see only one degree of separation between the lobbying efforts made at DKos by paid bloggers and the responsibilities of lobbyists on Capitol Hill. One speaks directly into the ears of legislators, and the other speaks into our ears while requesting that we speak into the ears of legislators.
I expect that here. I have learned much about problems with our Democracy from this community, and that knowledge has led to action on my part. I have communicated with legislators, signed petitions, donated to political campaigns and other worthy causes, sent messages of support and on and on. These kinds of pleas mean a lot more to me when they come from what Kos calls "ordinary citizens."
When money changes hands, I get suspicious. At that point in time, I want to know more about the lobbyist's complete agenda -- every issue about which the lobbyist seeks to sway DKos opinion. I want to know who is paying the lobbyist, how much, and for what. I also want to know the objectives of the lobbyist's employer. This is imperative because of the frequency with which, and the degree to which, lobbbying can take an amoral turn.
At least in my mind, there is a huge difference between a blogger who posts on DKos and cross-posts to his or her own blog. Any hits they get leading to advertising revenue will probably go to the maintenance of their blog. Moreover, they are not getting paid to write the piece that appears on DKos. That may be a means, but it is not the end. The same goes for legislators and their staffers. I'm sure they want support for their elections as well as their political positions, but they are not writing that particular post to make money.
I also see paid lobbying on DKos as a free advertising issue. I know that Kos must pay his bills so advertisers are tolerated if not welcomed with open arms. Paid lobbyists, on the other hand, are getting free advertising for not only their positions but also for their taskmasters. Why not ask these taskmasters to buy an advertisement instead?
There will likely be problems in the future. One problem that might arise is for freepers or redstaters or NAMBLA or Arayans to organize and put a paid blogger on the rec list with sockpuppet recommendations on a daily basis. Another possible problem is that this place ends up becoming a virtual Newsweek Magazine -- or a mess like the Huffington Post. One thing that I've noticed in life is that successful models are always repeated. What happens when it becomes repeated too often?
I have stated the problem as I see it to the best of my ability. Now, I will provide proposed rules. I understand that rules were meant to be broken, and that these rules will not have much "teeth," but every little bit will help.
1. NOMENCLATURE
The FAQs should be updated to include a description of the type of paid blogging that I have discussed above. I would suggest something like this: "Any blogger who is being paid to write a diary or comments on DKos is a lobbyist and must comply with the rules and regulations below regarding lobbyists."
2. REGISTRATION
Every "lobbyist" as defined above must register in a roped-off section of DKos, providing the following information: Name of employer, amount of payments received so far this year, amount of payments received over the course of all lobbying activities, the lobbyists real name, address, email address and telephone number (this private information would be masked from the general public and only available to mastheaders), a list of each specific issue (including all tangential issues), cause, piece of legislation, legislator or other topic for which the lobbyist has been paid to advocate for or against, a list of all people who the lobbyist knows is paid to support (i.e. tips or recs) his or her position on this forum, a list of all other media or fora on which the lobbyist is being paid to lobby, a statement as to the ultimate objective of the lobbying effort, as well as a letter or email from the lobbyist's employer stating that the employer is aware of the paid lobbyist's efforts and will take sole responsibility for any claims or suits arising from the paid lobbyist's efforts on this forum.
3. NOTIFICATION
The first thing that a DKos reader should see at the top of every comment or diary posted by a paid lobbyist should be some type of warning or notification. Not everyone who reads the Daily Kos does so on a daily basis. They might not understand what is going on. I suggest the following:
I am a paid lobbyist. I am being paid to write the materials that follow. That does not necessarily mean the information I provide is untruthful, incorrect, criminally misleading, biased, jaundiced or suspect. It does mean that I will be given cash or a cash equivalent to write the following, and, thus, it may not be my opinion at all. It is the opinion of those who are my taskmasters, and they are:
____________________ (name of employer/donor group #1)
____________________ (name of employer/donor group #2)
My job -- the one I get paid to do -- is to sway your opinion to that of my taskmaster. Whether or not you are swayed by what is written should be based only on the text that follows, and not based on the fact that I seem to support the text because I have written it. Maybe I do, and maybe I don't. I get paid $___________ per _________________ (word, post, comment, hour, month, year, person swayed).
CAUTION: LOBBYIST MATERIAL FOLLOWS
4. POST LIMITS
Paid lobbyists should be the exception and not the rule, and to ensure that is the case, the forum would restrict the number of comments per day and the number of diaries per week. My suggestion would be 10 comments per day and one diary per week. Perhaps there could be more if an adequate mechanism was developed to determine if the lobbyist was "off the clock."
5. PAID (or unpaid) ASSISTANT LOBBYISTS
Posters would not be permitted to recommend or tip a diary just because they have been paid to do so. Additionally, posters would not be permitted to "Poison the Well" of rival diaries or post laudatory comments in lobbyists' diaries if they are being paid to post at DKos.
6. THE PROGRESSIVE PAID LOBBYIST AGREEMENT OF 2010
The major progressive blogs would get together to reach an agreement on paid lobbying, including all of these rules and their enforcement. A unified front would hopefully ensure that one blog doesn't "attack" another with their paid lobbyists. This would also aid in enforcement -- a lobbyist would think twice before burning all of his or her virtual bridges.
7. ENFORCEMENT
Violation of the rules for paid lobbying would be a lifetime ban of the ISP address and the poster. (I realize that enforcement would be difficult in the case of individuals seeking to mask their intentions, but I believe that usually the truth is revealed -- at least down the road.). We all realize that paid lobbying has been a significant enforcement issue for state and federal legislatures. The first federal restrictions on lobbying were considereed in 1911. A year later, Woodrow Wilson noted, "The government of the United States is a foster child of the special interests. It is not allowed to have a will of its own." The lobbying restrictions first written down in 1911 were finally approved by Congress in 1946. See Federal Regulation of Lobbying Act (2 U.S.C.A. §§ 261, 261 note, 262–270 [1946]).
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Post Script: My Agenda
Having suggested that paid lobbyists suffer some scrutiny on DKos, I feel it is only fair to be up front about my agenda. I do not get paid to blog, and I am jealous of those who are. I do not own, manage, run or moderate a blog, nor do I work for any political action committee, candidate or legislatvie body. I am an ordinary citizen and a Democrat.
I am also 100% behind President Barack Obama, having had only two minor disagreements with his policies, words and actions since he became President. I have forgotten one of them, and the other is between my President and me. I take exception to paid lobbyists attacking our Democratic President, and I wonder who is next?
I did not get paid to write this, and I have never been paid to write anything on DKos. I am sickened by the way money has corrupted the legislative process, and I see that it might also corrupt the process we enjoy here. I do not want paid mercenaries harming the reputation of my President. I want to read what citizens like me have to say about politics, and if paid lobbying is going to be allowed here, I think there should be some rules. Paid lobbyists are the future here -- with a captive audience of thousands and thousands every day. This place could become a 24/7 political commercial, instead of 24/7 political news and opinion.
UPDATE: mem from somerville linked an excellent diary written by Adam B about "paid shills." I think it explains a lot, and is a working definition of the stopgap measures currently in use on the board.