I don't know when or how I developed the notion that "blogging" is an open playing field and open to all sorts of opiners, that is folks with opinions. But that understanding seems to have been co-opted by political and/or campaign sites and is becoming as outdated as the dodo. Since I support Hillary, her blogging sites are the ones with which I am most familiar. And all I can say is, OY!
The control and excessive management in the guise of "blogging" on All the Hillary campaign sites gives me a headache. These aren't blogs. They are political promos. And mostly only those individuals paid/and/or approved by the campaign are allowed to blog. An exception to this is that someone culls the web for when someone writes something friendly to Hillary and if it also pleases her blog managers it goes up on these sites
I suppose the reason I have become so aware of these PR blogging efforts is because I had wanted to blog for Hillary. Way, way back, I wanted to blog for her. So I fired off some emails to the various websites. No one ever answered. Then there was a new blog called Hillarys Bloggers, and I fired off an email to that one. After about a week to 10 days someone answered. Essentially, with the message it is a closed club. But then I wrote a diary someone thought I should take down. And they included a link to Hillarys Bloggers. And I thought, "Oh dear. Is this a warning? Does this person control who can blog for Hillary? Were they watching my blogs to see if I should be brought into the fold? I guess you will never be a hillary blogger now, because someone doesn't like this blog about alzheimers."
In the midst of these ruminations I am reminded that Censorship isn't only a right wing characteristic.
So my points are two-fold. First, nothing can turn back the clock on blogging. But in the interest of fairness; and in keeping blogging as unfettered and un-managed as possible, shouldn't campaign websites make clear what they are doing? Something similar to when the candidate has to say at the end of the TV ad--My name is Hillary Clinton and I approve this message" because isn't that exactly what is happening?
The second point is this. I don't want to blog for Hillary anymore. Because I am not a pr flack. I have opinions. I agree with things, and even when I like someone I may disagree with other things. Sometimes when I like someone this is even more pronounced because I care more. So I won't tailor my opinions on say, alzheimers, to fit a Hillarys Bloggers perspective. In fact, I was quite shocked by that email.
I have disagreed with so much stuff on this webvsite. We all do, don't we? But I have never asked someone to take a diary down because I disagreed. Apparently this man thought a poll asking people if they had alzheimers who they would vote for was in bad taste. And yet I printed it out and took it to my alzheimers support group and they were in hysterics. Because we know intimately how easily and crazily a person afflicted with alzheimers can be influenced. The point I was trying to make in a light-hearted way is that alzheimers voters are a huge potentially easily maipulated voting block. I would like to blog for a candidate whose campaign appreciates that.
Now, I don't think Hillary actually knows what goes on, on these blogging sites. But Peter Daou does.
So here's a question. How did a well respected blogger turn himself and the entire so-called blogging effort in Hillary's campaign into one huge PR moment?
And here's the final question. How does everyone who blogs essentially for public relations, and only for that in behalf of their candidate, think they are not undermining blogging?
Maybe that is ok. If you think it is, please say so.
Because I am not against having opinions. I am not against backing candidates-- even passionately. And I am not opposed to any other form of partisanship or opinionship or divergent perspective. Not At All. That is the Nature of blogging. However, filling the pages with endless PR promos is something else. Managing who can blog, what is said, how it is said and why it is said in the service of a political candidate in the guise of free-wheeling and free-spirited blogging is a travesty.